
Class r S G(q 



ICaiutott ®. I|?matta 



^ iWemorial 



JSp (l)c people of Jtlitljigan 



lY 7 z- 7J 



"iltp toljolc life Jjasi been guibcb fap a sense of ijutptnfjict) 
31 ijabe met unflincJ)inglp. ^Ijere fjabe been times, bobjeber, 
tbat requireb great moral courage. jBto otber course bjoulb 

leab to ultimate success."— Los/ words of Mr. Hemans. 




LANSING 

THE MICHIGAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION 
19 17 



B. o* ®' 






tEo tfje 

^tate of iJlict)igan 

anb to tlje 

Winiit^ States; 

is bctiicateb tljis memorial of a grcaf citizen 

ijp tfje people of iWicijigan 





Q^^r-rif^i^ y. 




^i^*<i 



preface 



IN editing this memorial of my beloved husband my 
thought turns from his circle of intimate friends to 
that great company of men and women for whose 
public good Mr. Hemans spent his life. I am deeply 
conscious of the great debt he owed to their confidence in 
him and their love for him, and I could only msh that all 
might have known him as I knew him in his home. His 
was a great soul, great in the little things as well as in the 
larger affairs of pill)lic life. If I may be permitted this 
confidence, 1 wish you to see how the sweetness of his 
life is reflected in his feeble dying words to me which 
were so sweet and helpful, and I will tell them to you. 
He said, "This is nothing, wife. I am all right with 
everyone, and all right with my God. This is nothing, 
don't feel bad. We have had a happy married life. 
You have been a good wife and always been my inspiration. 
Don't feel Inad, be peaceful and happy." With these 
last beautiful words of trust in his God and words of 
commendation to me, I am happy in knowing that he 
has come into his beautiful noble self in the Beautiful 
Isle of Somewhere. 

Mrs. Hemans. 
Mason, November 4, 1917. 



Crossing the Bar 

(A favorite poem of Mr. Hemans', read at the funeral services 
in Mason, Nov. 19, 1916) 

Sunset and evening star, 

And one clear call for me! 
And may there be no moaning of the bar, 

When I put out to sea. 

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 

Too full for sound and foam, 
When that which drew from out the boundless deep 

Turns again home. 

Twilight and evening bell, 

And after that the dark! 
And may there be no sadness of farewell, 

When I embark. 

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place 

The flood may bear me far, 
I hope to see my Pilot face to face 

When I have crost the bar. 

— Tennyson. 



piograpijical ^feetcJ) 



piograpf)ical ^feetcft 

LAWTON THOMAS HEMANS was born Nov. 4, 
1864, at the village of Collamer, Onondaga county, 
New York, where his father carried on the business 
of blacksmithing. He was of a good old sturdy English 
family. The father, John A. Hemans, came from Ban- 
well, Somersetshire, England, about the year 1835. His 
mother is of English and Holland extraction, and is still 
active at the age of eighty years. 

When eleven months of age, Mr. Hemans removed 
with his father's family to the township of Oneida, Eaton 
county, Michigan, where his father took up the business 
of farming. Three years later the father came to the 
city of Mason and resumed his trade as blacksmith; 
afterwards he moved to a large farm which he had pre- 
viously purchased in the township of Onondaga. 

There on the farm the boy Lawton soon learned to 
know the life of a farmer's son. Working on the farm 
during the })usy planting and harvest season, and attending 
the district school, was the recurring routine until his 
sixteenth year when he entered the public schools at 
Eaton Rapids. Here his experience was that of the 
average farmer's boy, working for his board, walking the 
eight miles to his home every Friday night to spend 
Saturday and Sunday with his parents, and then walking 
back again every Sunday night or Monday morning. 

9 



Manj' times I have seen him taking these trips, and have 
admired his courage. In June, 1884, he graduated from 
the Eaton Rapids high school, and from that time until 
the fall of 1887 his time was occupied as a teacher in the 
district schools of Aurelius township during the winter 
months, and as a hand upon the farm during the summer, 
when he sometimes went with threshing outfits. 

In 1886 he began to read law. Judge Huntington of 
Mason kindly gave him access to his library, and when 
not otherwise employed Mr. Hemans diligentl^y read the 
books from this library. In the fall of 1887 he entered 
the Law Department of the University of Michigan. 
At the close of his work there he was elected one of the 
circuit court commissioners of Ingham county, and 
opened an office at Mason. In the spring of 1889 he 
formed a co-partnership with John M. Corbin, an able 
attorney of Eaton Rapids, imder the firm name of Corbin 
and Hemans. This firm continued, however, only one 
year, as Mr. Hemans was advised by his many friends in 
Mason to return there and re-open the old office of 
Huntington and Henderson, which had been the leading 
legal firm of Mason for many years. He accepted this 
opportunity and practiced law in that city until 1910, 
when he entered the Railroad Commission. 

Mr. Hemans was elected to the legislature of 1901-02 
by a majority of 350 over his republican opponent, and 
again elected to the legislature of 1902-03 l)y a substantial 
majority over several opponents. In 1907 he represented 
Ingham county in the constitutional convention. The 
following year he was nominated as Democratic candidate 
for governor, and came within a few hundred votes of 

10 



defeating Fred M. Warner. In 1910 Mr. Hemans was 
again the Democratic candidate for governor, opposing. 
Chase S. Osborn. In that year Mr. Osborn appointed 
him the Democratic member of the Railroad Commission, 
as a mem})er of which he proved himself particularly 
adapted for the work of handling public utilities cases 
that came l)efore the commission. Governor Sleeper has 
said that he bejieved Mr. Hemans better fitted to handle 
this work. than any other man in Michigan. His work in 
the constitutional convention stamped him as a statesman 
of high order. In the legislature he made a reputation 
as a skilled debater, especially on all legislation relative 
to railroads, corporations and disbursement of public 
funds. His ability was such that he was conceded 
leadership on the floor. He was also sent as delegate-at- 
large to many Democratic conventions, and at gatherings 
was conspicuous for his aggressive tactics. He could 
fight, but could not hate, and woe to the adversary who 
faced him in debate — he was always ready ^^ith a 
twinkling story or a keen epigram, as well as with the 
logic of wisdom. 

He served faithfully and well in all tasks that were 
assigned to him. He held duty before him at all times, 
to the exclusion of all other things. His farewell words 
•to the State he loved so well were these, "My whole life 
has been guided by a sense of duty which I have met 
unHinchingly. There have been times that have re- 
ciuired great moral courage. No other course would lead 
to ultimate success." (These words I caught with my ear 
to his lips feebly and falteringly uttered, but repeated 
again by him correctly as at first, word for word. I feel 

11 



that he sacrificed his life for the State of Michigan, every 
inch of which he loved. The last campaign was what 
undermined his health. He gave his life for the State, 
and I knew he was doing it at the time. His great 
love of Michigan is expressed in a few verses, occasion- 
ally, in his younger years, but which were usually hidden 
from others). 

When a man spends a lifetime of private and public 
activity in one community as chd Mr. Hemans, his 
neighbors and friends come near to knowing the real 
man. He had the active friendship and political and 
moral support of his neighbors all his life, and passed on 
amid their sincere regrets. No higher tribute can be 
paid to any man. One has said of him, ''He was a great 
friend; his personality appealed to the heart as his elo- 
quence and intellect appealed to the head." Humanity, 
was his greatest treasure. He held unswerving faith in 
his f ellowmen, which won him so much support irrespective 
of party. He suffered keenly from any careless criticism 
of his public work. (At times I have seen him bow his 
head in his hands and sob, "They don't understand what 
I am trjdng to do. It hurts me so to be so unjustly 
criticized." Never has there been a time when he would 
not have willingly retired from any public position if he 
had been convinced that the public would have been 
benefitted) . 

Mr. Hemans held various offices in Ingham county. 
He was elected mayor in 1892; at that time he was the 
youngest mayor in the State — 27 years of age — and was 
designated the "Kid Mayor of Michigan." He was 
mayor of Mason five terms, and city alderman the same 

12 



number. For manj' years he was secretary of the Mason 
city school board and was then elected its president. 
For twenty-five j'ears he was affihated Avith a literary 
club of Mason, which has l)een a prominent club of the 
State and has had many men as its presidents who have 
held prominent places in the history of Mason antl of 
]Michigan. Mr. Hemans was president of this elul) at 
the time of his death. 

Mr. Hemans was of a literary turn, and besides his 
"History of Michigan, " which has been in use in the 
schools of Michigan for some years, has written a book 
on the life of Stevens T. Mason. Respecting this work 
I will quote the opinion of its editor, who says, "Mr. 
Hemans' ' Life and Times of Stevens T. Mason' is an inter- 
esting and valuable addition to the historical literature 
written by Michigan authors. In its facts the work shows 
thorough preparation, and Mr. Hemans has told me that 
during many years, in leisure hours, he searched out the 
materials wherever he thought he could find anything of 
value, even visiting the Mason homes in Kentuck\^ and 
Virginia and interviewing descendants of the family. 
In the evaluation of his evidence Mr. Hemans show^s the 
trained legal mind and an unusually calm and fearless 
judgment, and in the organization of the book he never 
confused his purpose, to present the life of Mason in 
relation to the Governor's times. Nor did he neglect the 
human side. The "Boy Governor," as he loved to call 
him, was Mr. Hemans' own ideal of manhood when 
himself a young man looking fearlessly into the future, 
both young men of high ideals triumphing over great 
obstacles and overwhelmed at last by the force of destiny. 

13 



The sweet home Ufe of the Masons appealed to Mr. 
Hemans strongly, and he presents it with great tender- 
ness. The book has the literary charm of all Mr. Hemans' 
writings, a volume one will take up with interest and lay 
down with deep regret that his great heart and facile 
pen are still." 

In 1889 Mr. Hemans married Miss Minnie Pauline 
Hill, a school-teacher of Ingham county and daughter 
of William J. Hill of Onondaga, and they have one son, 
Charles Fitch Hemans, a Senior in the University of 
Michigan. To have known Mr. Hemans best was to 
have seen him in his home where his wealth of knowledge 
and his keen sense of humor showed to the best advantage. 
He made it a custom when at home to spend some hours 
during the day in reading aloud to his family and what- 
ever guests might be with them. Riley, Field, Burns, 
Drummond were among his favorite poets, and he would 
read some pathetic story in a manner vividly real while 
the tears were streaming down his face, or laughed until 
he cried over some particularly humorous parts. 

His charm of private character is to be envied. When 
Mr. Hemans delivered the address at the dedication of a 
monument erected in memory of Douglass Houghton, 
he used these words, which seem a fitting tribute to the 
one with whom they originated : "There is an inspiration 
in the life of Douglass Houghton, as there is in the life 
of Lincoln, for they come as messages of cheer and as- 
surance that the common abilities and common virtues 
of life are for the success of indi\'iduals and the glory of 
states." 



14 



(Uribut^a 



tributes; 

AT a special meeting of the Historical (Commission 
held at Lansing December 21, 11)16, ihc following 
resolutions were adopted on the death of Hon. 
Lawton T. Hemans, late President of the Commission: 

"The State of Michigan and the Michigan Historical 
Commission have met w-ith a severe loss in the death of 
Lawton T. Hemans, a member of this Commission since 
its organization. By his deep interest in the history of 
Michigan and his unusual knowledge of its beginnings 
and development, being the author of a short but valuable 
history of the State, Mr. Hemans possessed unusual 
qualifications as a member of the Commission. TIk; 
monument erected in this State to its first Governor, 
Stevens T. Mason, w^as largely due to the influence and 
interest of Mr. Hemans; one result of that interest was 
the thorough investigation of the Governor's life and the 
preparation of a most interesting and valuable biography 
which this Commission hopes to pul^lish soon, and which 
will be a permanent and honorable memorial. 

"While we do not need to speak in this connection of 
Mr. Hemans' character, ability and value to the State in 
general, w'e wish to place upon the records of the Com- 
mission our high appreciation of his value to the Com- 
mission. His attractive personality, good judgment, 
persuasive pleasant manner, wide personal acquaintance, 

17 



and democratic spirit, combined to make his counsel and 
suggestions very valuable, and his death brings to each 
member of the Commission a deep sense of personal loss." 



Twenty-eight years of neighborly intercourse with 
Lawton T. Hemans leads me to believe that no one truty 
knew the man who was not familiar with his home life. 
Many people thought Mr. Hemans cold and distant in 
manner, and only those who knew him best realized that 
this was the result of an innate spirit of self-consciousness 
which he found it hard at times to throw off. In his 
home there was no evidence of this, and it was there that 
he always appeared at his best. 

He was always courteous and genial, full of quiet fun 
and humorous repartee, despising boisterousness or 
vulgarity. Whenever at home for the noonday meal, 
he spent an hour reading aloud to the members of his 
family and the "stranger within his gates." Riley, 
Field and Drummond were among his favorite authors, 
and he would read some pathetic tale in a manner vividly 
real with the tears streaming down his face, or enter into 
the spirit of some humorous story so thoroughly that he 
would choke with laughter as he read. He had that 
rare dramatic sense which made him one with the char- 
acters portrayed in his reading. 

He was intensely interested in matters historical, and 
no one could be in his company and not grow in some 
measure enthusiastic on the subject. He was for some 

18 



years president of the Ingham Count}' Historical and 
Pioneer Society, and it was his desire to have a per- 
manent record of toA\aiships and their formation, also 
of the pioneers and their work, prepared while some of 
the pioneers were here to tell the story, and he never 
ceased to urge upon the members of the society the value 
such records would be to coming generations. 

While secretary of the Mason school board he was a 
frequent visitor at the high school chapel exercises, and 
never without giving an instructive talk to the children. 
He had traveled extensively throughout the United 
States, and always mth a wide and comprehensive 
vision, and it was a source of enjoyment as well as one of 
valuable instruction when he told the pupils of his travels 
and made real to them the wonders he had seen. One 
who was in school in those days remarked at the time of 
Mr. Hemans' death, "My, those talks were great! I 
shall remember them all my life." 

Mr. Hemans was for many years a member of the 
Mason Tourist Club, and was its president at the time 
of his death. As secretary under him for two years, I 
was privileged to know something of his helpfulness in 
the historical work of the club, and to realize his wonder- 
ful executive ability. He enjoyed his affiliation ^^dth 
this club, and after ill health became his portion he 
attended the meetings as long as his strength permitted, 
though all knew he was continually suffering from pain 
and weakness. 

The melody of the "Divine Lullaby" hushed him to 
rest, and he "sleeps well" — and sleeps on. 



19 



Jclrcfjibalb l^roomfielb 

My acquaintance with Mr. Hemans began on October 
22, 1907, when we became seat-mates in the Constitutional 
Convention. Previously I knew him only by reputation 
as a capable and conscientious public official, lawyer and 
historian. In the Convention I came to know him as a 
man. 

Providence was generously kind to me in giving me a 
seat by his side. I had the rare privilege of absorbing 
some of his great fund of information, — political, his- 
torical, legal, etc. There were few mooted ciuestions 
entering into the formation of the Constitution Avhich 
we did not discuss in heart-to-heart talks. There are 
public men who have one opinion for the platform and 
another for their close friends. Opinions mil be pandered 
to in public which in private life are despised. But Mr. 
Hemans was cast in a different mold and belonged to a 
superior type of statesmen. I never knew him to express 
privately an opinion or conclusion which he was un- 
willing to champion in public debate. He never 
championed publicly any cause which he was unwilling 
to defend in private conversation. His words were a 
perfect mirror of his thoughts. Hypocrisy was utterly 
foreign to his nature. Many times have I discussed with 
him different phases of mooted questions and watched 
with interest the processes of his mind. He was neither 
stubborn nor egotistical and he courted the fullest dis- 
cussion of every question. But when he reached a 
conclusion it was the deliberate judgment of a well- 
informed mind bent only on the discovery of the truth. 

Mr. Hemans had courage; not simply physical courage 

20 



hut rather the courage to do all and suffer all for truth 
and duty. I have seen him disappoint some of his close 
friends because he refused to subordinate what he be- 
lieved to be right to questions of mere friendshij). He 
never asked, Is it popular? Will it win applause? But 
always he would put in the foreground the inquiry, Is it 
right? Will it be for the best interests of the State? 

I believe he never surrendered a fixed conviction for the 
sake of winning applause or public approval. Yet he was 
a firm believer in the common people and he had every 
confidence in their collective honesty. He had a sensitive, 
delicate and refined nature. Criticism touched him 
deeply, but he never allowed it to swerve him from the 
path of duty, and when his judgment on public questions 
met the approval of the people it gave him rich pleasure 
and satisfaction. 

He was a thorough and industrious student. His 
history of Michigan and his biography of the Boy Gover- 
nor, Stevens T. Mason, revealed better than I can tell, 
his habits of mind, his thoroughness and the labors he 
undertook without any hope of adequate pecuniary 
reward. In the privacy of our conversations he told me 
of the thousands of miles he traveled in different States 
of the Union in search of evidence and data for the 
Michigan History and Biography of Governor Mason. 

While he loved the beauties of nature, his devotion to 
his work compelled him to spend his spare moments 
within the fom- walls of his study. 

He never craved wealth. To him the richest thing in 
life was the consciousness of duty well performed. 

Life is immeasurably richer to me because of my 

21 



association with him. He was a true friend and servant 
of all mankind. I do not know what his views were 
concerning the Great Future, but I do know that if 
unselfish service to others is the best passport to a Life 
Beyond, then all is well with him. 

o o 

^fjomasi iSromlcp, 3fr. 

It gives me great pleasure to add my little to a tribute 
to my dear friend and counselor, Mr. Lawton T. Hemans. 
I know of no character that so inspired me as did that of 
Mr. Hemans. One could not come under his influence 
without being better for it and saying to himself that to 
be loved and thought of in the way he was is sufficient 
riches for any man. 

In my business experience with Mr. Hemans I was ever 
impressed with his unswerving honesty and love of fair 
play. In his official capacity we all felt when we placed 
our problems and troubles in his hands that ''all was 
well"; that if the cause was deserving and just, there 
would be no stone left unturned, no effort unmade that 
right and justice should prevail; that each side of a case 
would be thoroughly studied, carefully weighed and 
finally passed upon in unbiased judgment. 

His was a character too high to be affected by prestige 
or station, too broad-minded and noble to be partial even 
for the sake of friendship, or touched by political intrigue. 
His pleasure seemed to be found in doing the right thing, 
and duty lay a shining path before him which he followed 
in happiness; to know him was to know that his feet 
would not stray from the path. 

22 



The places that have known him are missing a presence 
that can hardly be replaced, and the ones that knew him 
ever so slightly will miss the kindly hand of friendship, 
for such he was — a friend to all. 

I know of no life more fully exemplifying the lines of 
Shakespeare : 

"This above all: to thine own self be true, 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man." 



ST. aa. Canfielb 

A correctly balanced estimate of a public man is one 
wherein the motive, which inspires his acts makes possible 
an unvarnished delineation of his career without doing 
violence to justice. Lacking entrenchment behind pure 
character, fame is short lived. The writer who would 
contribute to the pages of Michigan history a story of the 
career of Lawton T. Hemans can ^vith perfect safety 
predicate his every sentence upon an honestly founded 
faith in the moral and intellectual integrity of his subject. 

My acquaintance wdth Mr. Hemans covered a period 
of twenty years, and during most of that time we were so 
closely associated as to afford ample opportunity for a 
study of the man from every angle, which study entirely 
convinced me that he not only ])ossessed exceptional 
powers of discernment, but that he was also fortified by a 
character which forbade the utilization of questionable 
means to an end, no matter to what degree of eminence 
he might thereby have arisen. 

By extended study of the principles of government, 

23 



rendered valuable through a constant desire for their 
correct application, he avoided expression of views upon 
any subject until he had exhausted every available 
source of enlightenment, and opinions thus formed were 
defended with a frankness that invariably excited ad- 
miration and to the unbiased mind carried conviction. 
His candor and homely manner of expression were attri- 
butes which greatly enfianced the force of his argument. 
One of his most delightful gifts was a quaint sense of 
humor, which he utilized, not in excess, but appropriately 
to give force and clearness to his deductions, and which 
aided very materially in rendering his spoken addresses 
effective. 

If reference to a notable occasion in his career is per- 
missible, I invite attention to his first campaign for 
Governor of his State, which occurred in 1908. Phj^sically 
unfit for the strain, he entered that memorable contest 
in response to the unanimous demand of his party and to 
the limit of his endurance carried his message to the 
people — not to parade himself, but in the firm belief that 
he held views upon vital questions that the people should 
know. He received 26,383 more votes than had ever 
before been given a candidate of his party for the governor- 
ship, while, save in three instances, his total vote exceeded 
that ever received by a successful candidate for that 
honor. With such force and conviction did he appeal 
to the electorate that the result showed his vote to be 
77,992 in excess of those received in the State by the 
candidate of his party for the presidency at that election. 

Such a gratifying acceptance of his reasoning and logic 
admits of but one ex]5lanation. Candor, and a l^elief 

21 



in his integrity liad won for iiim the eonfidence of the 
voters, and his defeat by less than 10,000 in a total vote 
greater than had ever before been polled in Michigan 
was to him a tribute to which liis friends ever after 
pointed with a justifiable pride. 

Lovable, always considerate of his fellows, he ever 
sought an avoidance of expression which would give 
offense to or injure the feelings of even those opposing 
him. He despised deception in politics and abhorred 
the application of expediency in any form to accomplish 
a selfish result. 

His was distinctively a life given to public service. 
As a candidate for office he ever shunned discussion or 
consideration of honors or emoluments which might 
come to him thereby. His concern was ever for the 
State and an intelligent and honest administration of 
its affairs. During the two campaigns wherein he led 
his party as its nominee for the governorship his chief 
pleasure was in the presentation of his views upon the 
pending questions, and he always insisted that if his 
opinions were sound, sooner or later whatever party 
might be in power would recognize the wisdom of putting 
them into effect. Happily, he lived to see many im- 
portant enactments of which he was a pioneer jjroponcnt. 

He held in profoundest veneration those founders of 
the republic whose teachings made possible the estab- 
hshment of a government of, by, and for the people, and 
his chief joy was with his books, learning more and more 
of those principles which were enunciated for the freedom 
of mankind. Probal)ly Michigan has never been honored 
with a son more thoroughly conversant with the funda- 

25 



mentals of political economy than was the lamented 
Hemans, and surely she could not count within her scores 
of eminent scholars a man whose soul was more surely 
in consonance with American ideas of democracy. 

His Ufe was an inspiration, and his activities were 
ever directed along hues which would serve the public 
good. In his passing, Michigan has lost a citizen whose 
memory will be revered, and whose example may well 
be emulated bj^ the generations to follow. 



Milliam %. Carpenter 

Lawton T. Hemans had a charming personality, and 
this he showed to every one, but particularly to those 
who had the privilege of meeting him intimately in 
private life. His presence was restful and comforting. 
He was a sympathetic listener. He was never dis- 
putatious and never coimnonplace. His conversation 
was always adapted to his company and was always 
interesting. 

His work as a member of the board which controls our 
public utilities should make his reputation an enduring 
one. For there is no office in the State more important 
than this, and no man in the State could have better 
performed its duties than they were performed by Mr. 
Hemans. 

Indeed, he was peculiarly fitted to perform those 
duties. He was able, alert, honest, courageous and fair 
minded. He loved his work, and had no inclination 
to use his office as a stepping-stone to another position. 

26 



He had a just sense of his relations to the public. He 
knew that it was his duty to render public service rather 
than to win popular applause, and when he had to choose 
between rendering such service and ^vinning such ap- 
plause, he had the courage to render the service. And 
he found too, as strong courageous officials always find, 
that by making that choice he had increased his en- 
during popularity. 

Courage to do what was right rather than what was 
popular was, in my judgment, his distinguishing char- 
acteristic and the explanation of his remarkable success. 



Slugustus C. Carton 

To know La\\i;on T. Hemans personally was to love 
him, and to Imow him intimately in public life was to 
honor him as the highest type of public servant. 

It was my great privilege to know Mr. Hemans through 
a period of many years as a friend and as a servant of the 
people. There was a charm in his personality that 
distinguished him from all others. He seemed to be set 
apart and to look over and above the commonplaces of 
life and to be in touch with something serenely noble 
which his presence conveyed; 

As a party leader Mr. Hemans absolutely disregarded 
considerations of personal advancement, and despised in 
others all political trickery and expediency to gain selfish 
ends. He was always "four-square" to the world, and 
one always knew where he stood. He always informed 
himself carefully before he expressed an opinion, but 

27 



when convinced he was right he met the issue with 
absolute courage. He was by nature a student, a clear 
thinker, and an effective speaker. His frank manner 
of defending his views and his quiet humor never failed 
to win an audience. His audience sensed at once the 
sincerity of the man. 

In public life he was a generous friend even to those 
who opposed him, and was held in profound esteem by 
all leaders of the opposing party. He loved the "square 
deal." This was sho\\ai not only in all his work as a 
jurist, but on the Michigan Railway Commission, where 
his special knowledge fitted him to be a gTeat champion 
of the people. His was a life devoted and finally sacri- 
ficed to the public welfare. 

Mr. Hemans was not only an individual, but a type. 
In his life we have an inspiration to the youth of this 
country and an example to all men in public life. Mr. 
Hemans proved that under our form of government it 
is not needful for a young man to possess either influential 
friends or wealth in order to reach high position in the 
public service and esteem, but that the greatest reward 
comes from doing honestly and well the things entrusted 
to one's care. His life will be a benediction if the example 
he set to men in public life shall cause us to emulate him, 
and so to conduct ourselves that we can say, as did he, 
when the final summons shall come: "My whole life 
has l3een guided by a sense of duty which I have met 
unflinchingly. There have been times, however, that 
required moral strength. No other course would lead 
to ultimate success." In the death of Mr. Hemans, 

28 



Michigan has lost a nol)lc son, and the people a sincere 
and powerful friend. 

o o 

i$lrg. J^arriet CaSterlin, Mr. Hemans' first school teacher 
and lifelong friend 

Morley, the English essayist, said, "Life is to be — to 
do — to do without, and to depart," and in these few 
words is condensed the life story of even earth's greatest 
men. 

Mr. Hemans was not content "to be" in any \mt its 
fullest sense. Life to him meant reaching out and 
touching other lives, knowing what others were thinking 
and doing, keeping abreast of the Avorld's work, and he 
was an inexhaustible mine of information to all who 
came to him seeking knowledge. 

It was sometimes said that he was a dreamer and 
visionary. Certainly! He was. All great thinkers 
dream dreams and see visions. Visions are the founda- 
tions of all doing, for "Where there is no vision the 
people perish." 

But beyond just to live, just "to be," Mr. Hemans 
desired "to do," and now that we are missing him from 
his many activities we begin to see how varied were 
those doings. 

He was intensely interested in all that had to do Adth 
the history of Michigan and with putting into permanent 
form the life story of those pioneer souls who evolved 
this great State from its primeval forests and swamps. 
With pen and voice he pressed this duty upon all — the 
necessity of conserving the utensils and household fur- 

29 



nishings as well as the history of those so rapidly passing 
away, and today as we stand with bowed heads mourning 
our loss let us resolve to carry out his plans for the benefit 
of coming generations. He was in sympathy with all 
work for the uplift of mankind in town, county or State, 
always ready to help, for "he was a friend to man, and 
he lived in a house by the side of the road." ' 

It has been said that it is easy to give but not so easy 
gracefully to receive a gift. In the same way it is much 
easier "to do" even hard things than to "do without" 
the things one wants. Mr. Hemans had solved even this 
hard problem, and when he could not have the things he 
desired he put the wish aside and went his even way 
Avithout grumbling or complaining of his hard lot and 
the "injustice" of the world. While by no means a 
fatalist, he accepted the philosophy of another great 
soul who declared, "The things that are mine I shall 
have and w^hat is not mine I do not want." 

Just when he was becoming so proficient in the three 
great lessons of life, "to be — to do — and to do without," 
and when it seemed we could least spare him, came the 
call "to depart," the summons to graduate from this 
"College of Hard Knocks," and enter a higher institution 
of learning where his powers would have fuller scope, for 
no one could for a moment believe that such a heart and 
such a brain were ever created to be blotted out mth 
the passing of a worn-out body. 

So we are sure that in some happier clime with ever 
increasing powers for good our friend stands waiting to 
bid us "Good Morning." 



j^. lb. Crotodl 

We remember ^Ir. Hemans mostly as patient, kind 
and true, although we knew him to be able, faithful and 
of an essentially honest fiber. 

A naturally loyal man, he did not dissemble. He 
thought honestly and reasoned soundly. Expediency, 
that tool of little men, was not fitted to his purpose. 
His need for artful dealing and specious pleading was 
nil, and those who appeared before him to practice these, 
forfeited his confidence and esteem. 

He loved the open spaces and the distant view. They 
were symbolical of his character, — frank, clean-cut and 
clear. 

We think of him as a type, and as one who when 
visioned in the crowd would long be remembered even 
though others were forgotten. He impressed and won 
us. 

The work he did will appeal more and more to the 
thoughtful if not to the careless mind; it was truly con- 
structive, — never destructive, and he -WTOUght manfully 
for the best interests of his State and its people, liis 
greatest ambition being to do the daily task, to do it 
right and to keep the faith. 

I think of him as one who possessed the ^\ill and the 
ability to compass any worthy deed, — a lovable and 
great man who ^v\\\ long be remembered. 



31 



iHortimer €. Coolep 

To have known Lawton T. Hemans and to have 
enjoyed his confidence was a rare privilege, an inspiration. 
He personified my ideal of the American citizen of today. 
He was, at the core, more like the men of my father's 
day, and my grandfather's — a type of man all too rare 
in these modern times. In him had come down that 
fine old spirit of colonial days, when men considered it 
part of their duty to be interested in and to take an 
active part in the affairs of their town, their county. 
State and Nation. In those early days, he would in 
Massachusetts have been a "Selectman," and in New 
York a "Squire," both humble offices, but marking the. 
respect and confidence of one's neighbors. He would 
have been a mentor in neighborhood affairs, an arbiter 
in disputes; and when councillors in the grave affairs of 
state were needed, he would have been found among . 
them. In the old Greek days he would have been a 
disciple of Pericles and in Romaii days a Senator. 

Active as he always was in politics, it was in a way 
which commanded the confidence of his followers and 
the respect of his opponents. He was a man to be 
trusted, whether in agreement with one politically or 
not. In a political campaign he was ready, quick and 
keen, and fought hard, but as a General, who had in 
mind the public good that he believed would follow by 
winning the battle. 

Always conscientious and just, he wanted to do the 
right thing. He was careful in making up his mind, 
but once it was made up, he was absolutely fearless in 
expressing it. Nothing could turn him aside when he" 

32 



believed he was right. He was proud, but it was a 
virtuous pride which showed in a dignity that uncon- 
sciously commanded the deference due him as a superior, 
or due the public office that he filled. He was a fit 
representative of the dignity of the State. 

The State of Michigan was fortunate in the selection 
of Mr. Hemans as a member of its first Railroad Com- 
mission, and the Commission itself in having him for its 
Chairman. It was in this service that I knew him most 
intimately. Our conferences and discussions of new 
problems confronting the State are among my most 
precious memories. It was inspiring to watch him 
approach a new subject, he was so frank in setting up all 
sides of the question, that he might see it fairly. He 
said to me once, in discussing some decision the Com- 
mission must hand down which involved a debatable 
princi]:)le in public utility relations: "I cannot satisfy 
myself that it is just the right thing to do. I have always 
preached a different policy. But it is perfectly clear to 
me that not to recognize the justice of the claim would 
be wrong. All the light I can get points that way. If 
it is a mistake, we shall simply have to guard against it 
in the future." Mr. Hemans impressed me as always 
conscious of the fact that the Michigan Railroad Com- 
mission was establishing precedents, and that in the 
interest of the State the rights of all parties must be 
carefully guarded. 

Mr. Hemans was deeply interested in Michigan history 
and in historical matters generally. I remember so well 
the great pleasure he gave Dr. James B. Angell when he 
delivered the address at the unveiUng of the tablet placed 

33 



on Mason Hall, now the north wing of University Hall. 
The Doctor spoke of it afterwards as a memorable address, 
containing fa^ts in the early history of the State that 
could be known only through the efforts of the real 
student of history. He said: "Tell me more about 
Mr. Hemans. Why haven't I known him better?" It 
was characteristic of Mr. Hemans that his chief pleasure 
lay in seeking knowledge rather than in displaying it. 

How ready Mr. Hemans was in an emergency, and 
how willing to render service is well known to all. Seated 
in my office one day, discussing some problem, a student 
came in to remind me of my engagement to speak to the 
Freshman class, already assembled. I said, "Come on 
Mr. Hemans and meet the class and say a few" w^ords to 
them." He was delighted, and in less than three minutes 
was introduced and speaking. He made a splendid 
address. He was like a father talking to his sons on their 
approach to manhood. I have often wished I could 
know how many of those young men adopted him at 
once for their mentor. 

His was an untimely death. He was in the full bloom 
of manhood, the normal span of life barely two-thirds 
run. How much good he could have done in the other 
third! These swiftly changing times require the doing 
of great constructive work in our social and political 
life. We need to choose the best things from all' civiliza- 
tions — present and past. Mr. Hemans, with his keen 
insight into modern conditions and knowledge of the 
old, was particularly well fitted to link the good parts 
together. To those of us who knew him intimately, 
there has come a great personal loss; but however great, 

34 



it is submerged in his loss to the people of Michifian, 
whose faithful serv^ant he was proud to he. 



Ctiarlesf ^. Cunningfjam 

In paying tribute to Mr. Hemans, I feel that it will l^e 
impossible for me to do him justice. 

For upwards of twenty years I knew him only ])y 
reputation and yet from what I gleaned in the news- 
papers and through friends of his and previous to my 
personal acquaintance w4th him I became a great admirer 
of him as a statesman and an American citizen. 

I first met him in the year 1911 shortly after his aj)- 
pointment as a member of the Michigan Railroad Com- 
mission. At that time I was associated with one of the 
leading railroads of the State and frequently had occasion 
to appear before him in his capacity as a Commissioner; 
and I always found him singularly fair and fearless in 
dealing ■s\'ith matters that he was called to pass upon. 

In the year 1913 I was appointed a member of the same 
Commission, and no doubt largely through his efforts; 
and I am glad to say that as I became better acquainted 
with him I learned to love and respect him more and 
more as a man and counselor. 

As a statesman and jurist he had very few equals. His 
honor and ability could not be questioned. The (Mitire 
United States, and especially the State of Michigan, met 
wth a great loss when the final call came. 

As a member of this Commission I feel that there 
never will be another member who Avill ileal with matters 

35 



more conscientiously, fearlessly or impartially than did 
Mr. Hemans. It is to be hoped that when such men as 
Mr. Hemans come before the public for election to office 
or as appointees, they will be placed in the executive 
positions where they can render this government the 
greatest service. 

I was with him a great deal during his several years' 
illness, and his chief worry was his physical inability to 
render such service as he felt was due to the State of 
Michigan. 

I have often heard him say, with tears in his eyes: 
''Oh if I could only have the strength of other men so as 
to cope with the world as I would like to do!" and he 
usually ended by saying: "I beheve that the majority 
of the people know that I am doing my best, regardless 
of some unfounded criticisms." 

He paid sincere tribute to his good and noble wife, 
always saying that she was his inspiration and greatest 
help-mate. 



Pioobbribsc i^. Jferris 

(A tribute read by Mr. Ferris at the annual meeting of the 
Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society in May 1916.) 

Hero-worship is as old as civilization, possibly older. 
Not a few wise men, in modern times, discourage hero- 
worship. I do not belong to that class, because in my 
early youth, by mere chance, I was permitted to take a 
well-worn copy of the "Autobiography of Benjamin 
FrankUn ' ' from the remains of a rural school library. I 
read and re-read this book. As a consequence, I became 

36 



a worshipper at the shrine of Frankhn. I asked mj-self, 
forgetting his inheritance of brains, "Why can't I do 
something?" FrankUn furnished me ^vith a "self- 
starter." During my forty-three 3'ears of teaching I 
have tried to awaken men and women to a reaUzation of 
their best possibihties by making them acquainted with 
the Uves of great men and great women. 

I therefore take pleasure in presenting to the people of 
Michigan my impressions of the Hon. Lawton T. Hemans. 

Mr. Hemans was well born. His ancestors were sturdy, 
industrious, honest, prudent, loyal God-fearing people. 
He did not have the misfortune to be born with a silver 
spoon in his mouth. He was reared in the old-time 
home, where obedience, self-sacrifice, self-denial, sobriety, 
integrity, and industry were enduring virtues. No man 
acquires an education. Education comes through human 
development, growth, discipline, observation, constructive 
thinking, assimilation and personal contact with nature 
and humanity. Schools, colleges and libraries are in- 
valuable helps. There is no school quite like the rural 
school for developing individuality and self-reliance. 
From the rural school he passed into Eaton Rapids High 
School and graduated in 1884. During the next three 
years he taught rural schools winters and did farm work 
summers. This experience was invaluable because it 
stimulated his love for humanity and brought him face 
to face wath the importance of self-control, self-reliance, 
self-direction, patience and courage. 

Mr. Hemans chose law for his profession. He pursued 
the method for preparation then in vogue b}' reading 
law in the office of a practitioner. In the fall of 1887 he 



entered the Law Department of Michigan University. 
In 1889 he began to practice his profession in Eaton 
Rapids. The next year he opened an office in Mason 
where he continued his work as a lawyer until 1910 at 
which time he accepted an appointment on the Michigan 
Railroad Commission. This position he held at the time 
of his death. He possessed what is commonly termed a 
legal mind. His attitude towards his clients was like 
that of Abraham Lincoln. Law was not a means for 
securing an advantage, but a means to an end, that end 
always involving equity and justice. Litigation for the 
sake of litigation he could not tolerate. He had a special 
fondness and aptitude for law relating to railroads and 
liul)lic utilities. In this field he manifested extraordinary 
ability. 

In politics he was a Jeffersonian Democrat. In the 
Declaration of Independence he found the rock on which 
to build his political philosophy. Whether a candidate 
for Mayor, for the Legislature, for Governor, he never 
wandered from his political fundamentals relating to 
human rights. He was Mayor of Mason, served in the 
Legislature two terms, was twice candidate for Governor, 
was a member of the State Constitutional Convention 
and served on the Mason school board for many years. 
He was not politically ambitious. Naturally, he was of a 
retiring disposition. He disliked, possibly loathed a 
political campaign. He loved Michigan, but it was 
impossible for him to parade his own qualifications for 
any office. He was not a politician, — he was a states- 
man, one of the greatest Michigan has ever produced. 

38 



His life and services nave established an ideal that the 
present generation cannot afford to ignore. 

As an orator, he possessed none of the characteristics 
of a western cyclone, none of the characteristics that are 
solely pyrotechnical, none of the characteristics of the 
typical "spell-binder." In his speeches he always said 
something worth while, in plain, simple, forceful English. 
He was the orator who always commanded attention, 
who because of his ardent sincerity carried with him the 
respect and admiration of his listeners. It is needless 
to say that he hated sham. He worshipped at the 
shrine of truth. He was never afflicted with the mania 
for acquiring great wealth. Speculation never fascinated 
him in the smallest degree. For him money was ahvays 
a means, never an end. He devoted himself untiringly 
to the human side of the world's great activities. He 
was prudent in his expenditures, plain and modest in his 
dress, generous in his home, and alwaj'^s ready to assist 
the unfortunate. 

His History of Michigan reveals his simplicity and 
sincerity, his precision and excellent judgment. Had 
he turned his forces into the field of American historical 
research he would have achieved high honors. He loved 
books, he loved nature, and could he have followed his 
innermost longings he would have found Heaven in 
solitude, a solit.ude that centered in home, always open 
to his friends, surrounded by God's great out-of-doors. 
In his nature was mingled light and shadow. He ap- 
preciated humor, consequently he was at times oppressed 
by the tragedies of life. He was keenly sensitive to 
adverse criticism. He struggled to be understood. He 

39 



could not quite understand the irreconcilable faultfinder. 

His friends loved him because of his frankness, his 
loyalty, his brotherly kindness and his stalwart integrity. 
His surviving wife and son have in the precious memories 
of his noble life a priceless legacy, an enduring legacy. 
For twenty-eight years Mr. and Mrs. Kemans lived and 
worked together making the world better. Mrs. Hemans 
was his tower of strength, his daily inspiration. 

Close friends of Mr. Hemans believe that he worked 
beyond his strength in his first campaign for Governor, 
in 1908. In his suffering he was heroic. He did not, 
under any circumstances, disclose even to his most 
intimate friends his real condition. While the Grim 
Messenger shadowed him, he kept on working, he kept 
on serving the people of Michigan. He literally gave 
his life for Michigan. 

Michigan needs more men like Mr. Hemans. In his 
life and ideals we have the highest type of American 
manhood. 

a a 

C. H. (glasgoh) 

My association with Mr. Hemans began when he 
served in the House and I in the Senate of the Michigan 
legislative sessions of 1901-03. We entertained similar 
opinions on many questions and often worked together 
for the passage or defeat of the same measure. But 
when Mr. Hemans came to the Railroad Commission, it 
was then that I came to know the real man. In the many 
interesting visits enjoyed after office hours I heard mucli 
of the important issues of life in which he was interested, 

40 



and I became the recipient of many confidences through 
which I was permitted to see behind the curtain of reserve 
by which he appeared to be separated from his fellow 
men, and to count the many sterling virtues he possessed 
which shone like sparkling gems set in a crown of solid 
gold. 

He was a man who cared little for public opinion if it 
Avere at variance with what he believed to be right, and 
yet he was most keenly sensitive to unjust criticism. 

In his sympathies he was as tender as a woman, yet 
in denunciation as fearless as a lion; a man of high ideals, 
clean-cut and true, full of initiative, broad-gauged, yet 
conservative, one who entertained positive convictions 
with always a reason he was able to defend; but if you 
disagreed with him, your arguments always received 
courteous attention and careful consideration. 

He was a man who despised sham and trusted his real 
friends, and in turn was trusted by them. He was 
possessed of an abundance of humor; able to tell, also to 
appreciate, a good story. He was a valuable public 
servant because of his unquestioned integi'ity, definite 
knowledge of State affairs, discerning mind and sound 
judgment. 

In his death the State lost a safe counselor and good 
citizen, and the writer a warm personal friend whose 
association will ever linger as a pleasant memory. 



41 



Robert iW. iWontgomcrp 

My acquaintance with Mr. Hemans covered a period 
of nearly a quarter of a century. We were friends during 
this entire period, although our duties led us along separate 
paths. Mr. Hemans was engaged actively in the practice 
of his profession interrupted at times by legislative or 
administrative duties or by historical research or writing, 
while I was during the same time engaged in judicial 
work as a member of the Supreme Court and wholly 
removed from the activities of professional practice and 
politics. The very fact that it was my portion to enjoy 
rather the position of a friendly critic and admirer enables 
me now to place a more accurate estimate on his character 
than might be made by one not having just this per- 
spective. 

From this vantage ground I watched the career of Mr. 
Hemans with keen interest. The impressions which his 
life and public service made upon me were so lasting and 
profound that 1 can not regard him in any attitude less 
serious than that of a student, a writer, a public servant, 
a reformer, a crusader. 

My special attention was first called to his public 
services when Mr. Hemans was chosen from the Ingham 
District as a member of the State House of Representa- 
tives. He w^as at this time a young man, indeed I think 
nearly the youngest member of the House. He very 
soon gave such evidences of his ability that his party 
associates yielded to him the position of party leader of 
the minority and every member of the majority accorded 
to him unstinted respect and friendship. During this 

42 



service he disclosed the same statesman-like quahties 
which afterwards brought him greater honors. 

Mr. Hemans' next public service was as a member of 
the Constitutional Convention. In my own apprecia- 
tion, his service there rendered was most typical of the 
man and the most enduring of am- of his pubUc services. 
This body was non-partisan in its composition and in 
my judgment has never been excelled in character or 
ability by any gathering of corresponding numbers in 
the State. The circumstances under which the election 
occurred left the members of the convention wholly 
untrammeled by party obligations of any kind. The 
occasion therefore furnished every opportunity for the 
exercise of Mr. Hemans' constructive ability. 

As was predicted in advance l^y his friends and by all 
who watched his course in the Legislature and w'ho were 
famihar with his student habits, his historical research, 
his general learning and his equipment as a constitutional 
lawyer, IVIr. Hemans at once took front rank in this 
convention and maintained his j^jsition throughout the 
session. 

His commanding ability and his (lualities of leadership 
w^ere so apparent that he was from this time on regarded 
as the logical candidate of his party for Ciovernor, and he 
could doubtless have continued such leadership in- 
definitely had he felt it just to himself and family to bear 
the financial strain which such candidacy imposed. 

In the meantime Mr. Hemans had entered the field 
of authorship and had produced a History of Michigan 
which, w^hile designed for a school text-book, was written 
in his usual lucid style and with painstaking accuracy 

-43 



and was so extensively read throughout the State as to 
make his name a household word. 

Mr. Hemans as Railroad Commissioner honored the 
position as he had those he had previously held by the 
vote of the people. He gave to this position a judicial 
tone. \ There was no effort to discriminate for or against 
the railroad corporations, but to demand obedience to 
the law; to meet out jealously and fearlessh^ exact justice 
was his sole purpose. 

Such briefly stated is the record of an ideal public 
servant. Mr. Hemans' character was well rounded. It 
is well Imown that he was intensely human, but my own 
picture of him does not portray him as being even tem- 
porarily diverted by frivolity from the earnest pursuit 
of the serious business which he felt it was his duty to 
prosecute. He was a purposeful, earnest, constant and 
ardent worker and was endowed by nature with a logical 
acute mind and a healthy imagination, qualities which 
constitute genius in its best form. 

He was under the constant spur of exalted duty. An 
obligation to the community or the State was felt with a 
force only equaled by that which controlled him in his 
most happy family relations. He detested vice and 
pursued it relentlessly. He was a statesman of the old 
school, battling for new principles but at the same time 
insisting upon conserving the essentials of a stable and 
lasting government. He was among the foremost of his 
generation to urge and work for practical economy and 
reform in the State government. He also stood in the 
front rank of those who have insisted upon divorce of 
the saloon from politics. I think it can be truly said 

44 



that he never paused before taking a stand on any public 
question to ascertain upon which side the greater number 
stood arrayed. He always had faith in the people, but 
his faith rested upon an instructed electorate, not upon 
a deluded constituency. He was not deceived into 
believing that the people were always right. Had he 
entertained any such views his public services would 
never have been rendered. He was not one to drift 
A\dth the tide. He believed it to be his duty to lead the 
people. It is because of this belief that he was able to 
leave the impress of a great man and a patriot upon the 
history of his State. 



(The following tribute, prepared by Mr. Louis E. Rowlej' and 
intended to bo read by him at the funeral service for Mr. 
Hemans, was read on that occasion by the minister in charge. 
Rev. W. H. Simmons, Mr. Rowley being overcome with grief 
and unable to proceed) 

I have come here today to speak a word of tribute to 
the memory of a man who by his simplicity of character,, 
straightforwardness of thinking, selfless enthusiasm for 
good public causes, and decisiveness in the presence of 
responsibility, had raised himself to a first place in the 
affection and respect of his fellow citizens. 

"A great statesman," said a famous English publicist,, 
"is a man of common opinions and uncommon abilities." 

This profoundly acute observation applies with peculiar 
force to Lawton T. Hemans. He had that deeply con- 
servative belief in that most ancient of institutions, the 

45 



average man, which goes by the name of democracy. 
It was not only a strongly held,- but closely reasoned 
creed; it was also an instinct, a vital part of the man 
himself, the sincerity of which was beyond question. 
His patriotism was of the good old-fashioned sort, wliich, 
like charity, begins at home. He had none of that kind 
of patriotism which assumes that the sentiment does not 
exist in other people. There was no sham, no glitter, 
no cant, in Lawton T. Hemans, but a singleness of pur- 
pose, a supremacy of intelligence, and a magnanimity 
of action which temptation could not influence and 
weakness never marked with a blot. 

High-principled, resolute, modest, free from vanity 
and pettiness of spirit, no public man in Michigan has 
ever lived up to a purer or more austere ideal. He was 
no hasty-spirited reformer, but was endowed with that 
''divine moderation" which is one of the cardinal virtues 
of high statesmanship. He was philosopher enough to 
know that the present is but a link between the past and 
the future — that "governments have not been success- 
fully and permanently changed except by slow modifica- 
tion operating from generation to generation;" and he 
put his faith only in realizable ideals. 

It requires not an abnormal genius to be a useful 
statesman. It requires no more than clearness, honesty 
and courage; and these qualities Lawton T. Hemans 
possessed in an unwonted degree. 

By consequence he became not only the trusted leader 
-of his party, but one of the greatest individual con- 
structive forces of the State. In the Legislature, in the 
Constitutional Convention, and as Chairman of the 

46 



State Railroad Commission, he stood fortli a commanding 
and inspiring figure. "Great men," said Emerson, "have 
been pereeivers of the tenor of hfe, and have manned 
themselves to face it." Lawton T. Hemans was a man 
of truth and facts; he was also a man of intuition and 
vision. He saw life steadily and as a whole, and he had 
the seer-like power to comprehend the deeper forces 
Avhich move it. 

In his breadth of human sympathy, iiis simple probity, 
and his quiet native humor, he was without a peer among 
the political leaders of Michigan. He had a fund of 
illustrative anecdote like Lincoln. His natural gifts and 
his attainments were such as distinguished him in every 
circle that he entered, and he had, besides, a rare faculty 
for attracting other men to him by ties which were seldom 
loosened by political or other differences. 

Although a sufferer for many years from an incurable 
malady, an inborn force and tranqpility of mind bore 
him up, and amid thick-coming shapes of ill he bated no 
jot of devotion to duty. His career during this period 
of his life furnishes one of the lofty and exhilarating 
public examples of our da3^ 

Happy the State which can stand beside the open grave 
of a great man, without a cloud u])on its pride at having 
had such a son. Happy the people in whose day and 
generation such an example of personal and public virtue 
and of manly life-long fidelity to every obhgation has 
been produced. Happy the age which has possessed a 
citizen of such generosity and such heroism, in friendship 
so genial, in integrity so complete. And happy above all, 
in the midst of their sorrow, are the friends and the 

47 



family, the nearest and dearest of the departed, in the 
consciousness that the one they loved and mourn for was 
not merely great and potent in the service of his State 
and his party, Imt was equally true, affectionate, gentle, 
sincere and spotless in every relation of life. 



1^. M' iBtimmo 

Mr. Hemans was not onlj^ a true statesman, but a 
great friend. His personality appealed to the heart as 
his eloquence and intellect appealed to the head. 

He thought in terms of public business as most men 
think in terms of dollars. Like most men, he frequently 
could have used to advantage more money than he found 
available, but the mere making of money he held to be 
"a vulgar talent." Humanity was his greatest treasure, 
and democracy his instrument for serving it; for democ- 
racy he conceived to be the party of the people. It was 
this unswerving faith in his fellowmen that won him so 
much of their support irrespective of party, and made 
him Mayor of Mason, minority leader in the House of 
Representatives, delegate to the Constitutional Con- 
vention, and a candidate for Governor in two campaigns 
that seriously challenged the Republican tradition in 
Michigan. 

He suffered keenly from any careless criticism of his 
public work, but he endured it bravely, refusing to be 
deflected one step from the course he believed to be just, 
be it popular or unpopular. There never was a time when 
he would not have retired from any public position if he 

48 



had been once convinced that the i)ubUc would have l)een 
benefited. "What they say about me," he once remarked 
to the writer, ''will not hurt anybody personally except 
me, but I am concerned for the welfare of the institution 
known as the Michigan Railroad Commission," of which 
he was then chairman. 

He loved every foot of Michigan, expressing his af- 
fection in a fugitive verse betimes in his younger days 
and usually concealing it from profane eyes, or in writing 
a school history of his State, or in recovering the remains 
of our first Governor and giving them perpetual commem- 
oration, or in doing battle in the political forum for his 
convictions on sound public policy. Many of his political 
opponents will testify that he could fight but could not 
hate, and woe to the adversary who faced him in debate. 
He was as ready with a twinkling story, or a razor-edged 
epigi'am, as with the logic of wisdom. 

He has left to Michigan an example in public life that 
will bear emulation, and a charm of private character to 
be envied. 

o a 

(A tribute spoken at the funeral service for Mr. Hemans) 

No man can attain and hold the respect of the com- 
munity in which he lives without the element of real 
worth in his character. The years have come and gone, 
and our brother taken from us has lived his life in the 
surroundings which today know him; and the tribute of 
respect that is paid in the gathering of this assembly, 
in the flower tokens with their wealth of messages, speak 



to us not only of the respect for but of the real worth of 
the character. I could wish that a worthier tongue than 
mine might today at least undertake to voice the senti- 
ment that is in your hearts, and in some way give word 
to that which you have tried to speak, that there might 
come in the effort at least some sense that the longing 
and struggling of your souls had been satisfied. 

There is no measuring the worth of a great soul. Every- 
where there is a voice, more constant than any human 
voice, a voice that speaks louder than any word, a voice 
that is ever expressing itself, speaking in the family of 
love and companionship, telling over and over again to 
the dear ones of the famil}^ the old, old message of love 
and appreciation, — standing as the all-powerful and yet 
silent monitor that reaches down to the boys and girls 
of the family, and thus speaking calls them to higher 
living and nobler things, to fulfill the ambition and 
purpose of the life which is cut off. It has its influence 
and its power in the community, and reaches out, a 
constant though silent admonition to stand for the high 
things that he who has gone has stood for. 

I wish this afternoon that I might in some way speak 
of some of the things that I knew in connection with the 
life of Mr. Hemans, and possibly of some of the things 
that some of you may never have had the opportunity 
of witnessing. Three weeks ago today I had occasion 
in the preaching of a sermon to use the life of Mr. Hemans 
as an illustration, without knowing or surmising that 
this soon I might be called upon to officiate in this capacity. 
The thing of which I spoke was "trustworthiness." I 
did not always agree with Mr. Hemans, nor he with me; 

50 



but this splendid thing is true that would knit my heart 
to any individual where I found it, that I never had oc- 
casion for even a moment to question the integrity of 
the man. I knew where I might find him when he had 
expressed to me his sentiment, and what action I might 
expect from him on any question. I knew that he would 
be true to his word, and that I would find him standing 
exactly where he indicated. He stood with a devoted- 
ness of purpose; he stood with earnestness for the things 
that he believed to be right. 

When I was practically a stranger in this community 
and surrounding country, Mr. Hemans was in the Legis- 
lature, the leader of the minority in the House. There 
were some things on which I Avas anxious to hear him 
because of knowing that he was to take a certain stand; 
and, what might be common to you, I saw the House in 
seeming disorder; men were speaking their ideas and 
getting practically no attention whatever. I never 
heard Mr. Hemans speak in the House but that he had 
the perfect attention of every one in the House. He 
commanded the attention and respect of all; and when 
I tried to fathom the "why," I knew that it was for more 
than a splendid voice; I knew that it was for more than 
clearness of logic. I w^as conscious that underneath it 
all there was an earnestness of purpose and an intensity 
of conviction that made him stand for the things which 
he was standing. His was a voice of conscience; it was a 
reasoning along the line of truth as he saw the truth. 

I wish to give you another picture: One day my 
telephone rang, and it was Mr. Hemans. He says, 
''There is a certain family that is in need of such service 

61 



as you can render, and if you are at liberty I would like 
to have you call with me at a certain place." I answered 
quickly and came to his home here, and then he went 
with me to this place which he had indicated. I saw the 
sorrow and I might almost say the despair; I saw the 
greatness of the need, and as I tried to bring some word 
of sympathy and some word of help, this man, whose 
mind was filled with the things of state and things of 
livelihood, I saw his arm silently steal about the form of 
the little girl in the home and drawing her closely to his 
side he spoke to her words of tender sympathy that her 
child mind and child heart could appreciate, and this if 
I had never seen anything else would have tied my heart 
to the heart and life of Lawton T. Hemans. And in that 
home, as we knelt in prayer, this man concerning whom 
there have come the tributes from the east and the west 
and the north and south that he was a gi'eat man, showed 
his greatness by loieeling in that home of need with me, 
a pastor and minister, while we sought the presence and 
the blessing of God. His not only was a heart and a 
life that was trustworthy, but his was a heart that was 
full of the spirit of sympathy and full of the spirit of 
kindness, and for the needy he had a' kindly thought; for 
the needy he had the spirit of ministry. 

And then I came near to Mr. Hemans in some ways in 
the matter of personal conversation with him, and it 
would not be anything out of the way when I say that in 
his way at least he opened his heart to me about the 
things of the past, and the worry of a mother for him 
when he was a boy. He opened his heart to me con- 
cerning his anxiety for his own boy, as he said, "He is 

52 



passing through the time that is the danger period for 
every boy and I am particularly anxious to keep him." 
And so he spoke of these things that were near to his 
heart; he spoke of the things that were of interest to him 
as he looked upon the community, and as he looked upon 
the young life of the community, and, as he said, "The 
fact that I have a boy gives me a heart for every boy in 
the community, and I want the best things that I can 
have in the community for the boys of the community. 
I want to stand for high things." And so my heart 
touched his and his heart mine as we talked of some of 
these things that are the common things of life; that are 
part of the common heart and common interest, talked 
of perhaps in a common way, but in the very clearness 
of time indicating the clearness of the thought, the great- 
ness of the affection. 

If I were to try to measure the life and character of 
Lawton T. Hemans from a political standpoint, it seems 
to me I might approach this character and still find 
written in it the elements of greatness. To my mind 
Lawton T. Hemans was not a politician in the conmionly 
accepted meaning of the term; while he was in politics, 
and while he had to deal wdth political questions, he was 
more than a politician. His work was of the order of 
statesmanship; his was the mind that loved to grapple 
not with the methods of political maneuvering, but with 
clear thinking upon great questions that had to do wth 
the public good, with the building up of government on 
solid foundations. His was a mind that looked for the 
good that he might do to others, and for the good that 

53 



they might receive from the operations of the best that 
is in government. 

If I were to examine his hfe and estimate it from the 
standpoint of his hkes and desires, I would have to put 
upon it the stamp of beauty as well as the stamp of 
greatness. I would ask you simply to come and look at 
his books; and looking at his books, to judge the man. 
Not the frivolous things; not the light things; but the 
things that inspired; the things that gripped with a sense 
of nobility; the things that made the man rise to the 
higher power within him, and to give his life splendidly 
and earnestly to these great things. He was a great 
reader, and I was impressed once as speaking of some 
books which he had just recently bought, he said, "I 
make it a rule' never to buy another Iwok until I have 
read the last book wiiich I bought" — and if you are to 
judge him from this standpoint you will marvel at the 
wddeness of his reading, and the widcness of his thinking; 
for he read splendidly as well as thought splendidly. 

If you judge his character from the standpoint of the 
things that he did and that he tried to do, you will find 
a great service to the State of Michigan; he prepared a 
history of the State that has come to be widely used in 
the schools; he turned the tides of patriotism and loyalty 
into the realms of service, and was instrumental in bring- 
ing back to the State of Michigan for interment the body 
of its first Governor, Stevens T. Mason, the Boy Cxovernor 
of Michigan. 

Not onl}^ may we judge him from the standpoint of his 
reading, but if we turn to the pictures and judge the man 
■by the pictures that he loved, we find that they embody 

54 



the great things of religion, the great things of nature, 
the great things of hterature, and he loved these things 
with the love that inspires to that Avhieh is noble. We 
turn again to the things of nature, — no man perhaps loved 
jQowers better than Lawton T. Hemans. "Many, many 
times," his son said to me yesterday, "I think hundreds 
of times I have seen father stop as he was coming down 
the street and pick a pink just below here and put it in 
his buttonhole." He was a lover of flowers. They 
ministered to him. He found his delight in cultivating 
these things of nature; and so, as we turn our minds in 
these various directions, we find that they all speak of 
the greatness of this man. 

1 can not cease without speaking of tlie unselfishness of 
the man. His last thought was not for self, but for wife 
and son and mother. I am glad to bring you this word: 
Just a little before he passed away, when the wife of his 
bosom, the companion of his life, came into his room and 
placed her hand upon his head, — calling her name, he 
said, "This is your hand. I can tell it from all- the 
others:" and in a labored way he said — "Everything is 
all right between me and my friends," and then waiting, 
he said, "And everything is all right between me and 
God." Beautiful testimony! And then he dictated this, 
which you all have read : 

"Mj^ whole life has been guided by a sense 
of duty which I have met unflinchingly. There 
have been times, however, that required moral 
strength. No other course would lead to 
ultimate success." 
And now I shall bring one mor(> woi'd, for an hour like 

55 



this would be unbearable were it not that to the heart 
that turns toward God there comes back a w^ord from 
Him that holds, that leads, and that makes life more 
worth living, fills it fuller of joy. Our Savior said, 
"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden, 
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and 
lean on me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye 
shall find rest unto your souls." And after the weeks 
and the months that ran on into the 3^ears of sickness and 
pain, our friend was read}' for rest. His soul reached out 
for relief, and blessed experience was it that when the 
end came it could find him saying, "I am not concerned 
for myself, I could wish to be at rest." 

Among the many men of unusual ability and fine 
character I have known in Michigan, both in private and 
in public life, no one has more stronglj" attracted my 
admiration or personal regard than Lawton T. Hemans. 

Himself an ideal citizen, his life was spent in a con- 
tinuous and successful effort to elevate the citizenship 
of his State and country. He regarded official position 
not merely as a public trust but as an opportunity for 
greater accomplishment. He would have made an ex- 
cellent Governor. His familiarity with the history of 
Michigan, his sound judgment, his sympathy- with that 
part of the community which is least able to care for 
itself, and his burning desire to perform valuable service 
would have insured an administration of rare value to 
the State. 

56 



He -was a party man because he thoroughly believed in 
the principles of the political party to which he belonged, 
but he was not a partisan in any narrow sense. In his 
two gubernatorial campaigns he made the most of his 
opportunity to educate the public on State and national 
affairs and to inculcate doctrines and principles which 
made his hearers better men and better citizens. 

If party inequality in numerical strength rarely permits 
the election to public office of such men as Mr. Hemans 
who do not happen to belong to the stronger party, it 
is still worth something to have men of his type candi- 
dates for office, for in their discussion of public questions, 
in their calm and courteous criticism of opponents, and 
in their avoidance of the tricks and sharp practices_^of 
the petty politician, they set the pace for others, and to 

such men is largely due the credit for the steady im- 

_ Im- 
provement in political standards so noticeable in|^our 

national life during the past quarter of a century.^ ««.^ 

In accepting the nomination for Governor the second 

time, he made a personal sacrifice and a concession to his 

overmastering sense of duty. He was in no physical 

condition to enter a Statewide campaign, which he knew 

from experience would draw heavily upon his vitality. 

One of his first speeches in that campaign — I think the 

very first — was made in Grand Rapids. It was a speech 

remarkable for its statesmanlike breadth of view, full of 

food for thought, sound in doctrine, logical in sequence, 

and vigorous and effective in delivery, in fact one of the 

strongest and most convincing speeches I ever heard 

him make. 

None except those who knew him well and wore sitting 

57 



nearby could possibly understand the terrible physical 
strain under which he labored or the tremendous will- 
power he was exercising by being on the platform at all. 
At the close of the meeting I accompanied him to his 
hotel, and only then did I fully realize the extent of his 
exhaustion. I have ever since regarded this as the most 
remarkable demonstration of pluck that ever came 
within my personal observation. 

If my conception of this truly great man had to be 
condensed into a single word, that word would be "Sin- 
cerity." To be, rather than to seem, to deserve rather 
than to receive, to do good to others without a single 
thought of securing credit of well doing, to love the 
genuine and detest the sham — these are some of the 
qualities- which made his character beautiful and which 
marked him among his fellows as a singularly noble, 
sincere, and manly man. 

Michigan is a better State because his home was here. 
The young men of Michigan are blessed with higher 
ideals because he lived and because they have known 
what manner of man he was. Thousands of Michigan 
voters, old and young, regardless of party ties, paid 
tribute to his sterling character. 

He was a statesman who elevated the standard of 
public service. He was a historian who played no un- 
important part in making history. He was a citizen of 
the commonwealth who dignified citizenship and en- 
riched the commonwealth with something money can not 
buy — the lasting benefit of an unlilemished example. 



The best estimate of a public man's character is em- 
bodied in the regard in which he is held by his personal 
associates. These are the men who are qualified to 
differentiate between character and reputation. What 
a pubhc man is, and what the general public think he is, 
are two separate and distinct things, and yet in the life 
of Lawton T. Hemans we have a record of real character 
that measures up to the loftiest of reputations. 

My intimate acquaintance with Mr. Hemans began 
during his first campaign for Governor, in 1908, and by 
reason of the fact that I was Chairman of the State 
Central Committee that conducted his campaign our 
relations w^re unusually close during that memorable 
contest. It was conducted with the most meager finan- 
cial assistance, the great asset being the candidate's high 
character, evident sincerity of purpose, and the manifest 
unselfish nature of his appeal. 

That he overtaxed his physical strength in that cam- 
paign I believe all his intimates realize. Day and night 
he delivered his message to the people mth a candor and 
frankness so plain and convincing that at times the logic 
of his argument arose to the grandeur of an eloquence 
that was sublime. 

There were none of the tricks of the demagogue with 
Mr. Hemans. He was as honest in thought as in action. 
His convictions were deeply rooted, but he was not a 
narrow partisan, as we know partisans in general. He 
was a patriot in the highest sense; a citizen with the 
highest ideals of governmental faith and public service. 

Possessed of a lovable disposition, imbued with a 

59 



kindly attitude toAvards his opponents, he could not 
understand the bitterness and unjust criticism that are 
so often exemplified in the heat of political strife and in the 
relations between the public and the State's servants. 
No man could have had less occasion to fear searching 
criticism of his course than Mr. Hemans; yet he was 
keenly sensitive to it, because he was profoundly con- 
scious that it was unmerited. 

As Mayor of his city, Legislator, Member of the Con- 
stitutional Convention, and Commissioner of Railroads, 
Lawton T. Hemans contributed distinguished service to 
his State, and at a time, too, when conspicuous effort 
could only be rendered by a man of commanding force 
and exceptional virtues. As a student of Michigan 
history he probably had no superior, and that gave him 
an equipment for public service that was unsurpassed. 
Looking back over the history of this commonwealth, 
so far as I have personally observed it, I know of no 
man who has labored more zealously for the uplift. of its 
people or the advancement of its political morals. 

It is an appreciated privilege to pen these few words 
as a wreath of remembrance for one who A^dll always rank 
among Michigan's really great, loyal, noble and revered 
citizens. 

o o 

ebtoin 0. Moob, 1L%. B. 

Lawton T. Hemans was born for public service. Had 
he lived in the days preceding the American Revolution 
his name would without' doubt have appeared as one of 
the signatures of the Declaration of Independence. He 

CO 



was of the type of the old-school statesmen and patriots. 
He believed it his duty to give real service to his State 
and his countr}-. 

Had he lived in a State where his party was in the 
ascendancy it would have bestowed upon him its highest 
honors. The United States Senate has room for men of 
the character and eminent ability of Mr. Hemans. Had 
he been a Republican in his political affiliations, it is 
certain Michigan would have used his splendid attain- 
ments as Governor or United States Senator, or both. 
After twenty -five years of close association with him, 
the writer can testify to his sterling honor, his beautiful 
ideals of friendship, his absolute candor and intense 
hatred of cant and hypocrisj'-, his charity and fairness in 
passing judgment, his generous nature and forgiving 
disposition, his love of his home and family, his pride in 
Michigan and its romantic historj^, his profound respect 
for the constitution, the law, and the judiciary, his keen 
interest in current public affairs, his unfailing loyalty to 
his party and the principles of its founder, Thomas 
Jefferson. 

As leader of the minority in the Legislature he com- 
manded the respect of his colleagues; as a member of the 
Constitutional Convention he rendered constructive and 
lasting service to the State; as a member of the Michigan 
Railroad Commission he gave to the work conscientious 
and faithful endeavor, persisting in performing his part 
of the work for months after his strength had become 
exhausted. In the Democratic National Convention at 
Baltimore in 1912 as a delegate at large he was a com- 
manding figure. Despite threats and attempts at co- 

61 



ercion he stood manfully l)y his convictions, voting on 
several ballots for Juclson Harmon of Ohio, and later 
changing to Woodrow Wilson. 

The regard with which Lawton T. Hemans was held in 
Michigan is shown by the vote he received for Governor 
in 1908. The number of votes cast for him in that 
election stands out as a tribute to the man, not only by 
his own party l)ut l)y the thousands of independent 
voters and those of opposite political faith who named 
him as their choice for the highest office in the State 
])ecause they believed in him as a man. 

As a member of the board of trustees of the Michigan 
Pioneer and Historical Society he gave for years his best 
efforts to preserve historical material pertaining to 
Michigan, and later as a member of the Michigan His- 
torical Commission he was an important factor during 
its organization and formative period. His History of 
Michigan, as well as his Life of Governor Stevens T. 
Mason, together with his other literary productions have 
made for him an enduring place as a scholar and authority 
upon matters connected with Michigan and the Old 
Northwest. 

Alas! What a sad and premature death, just at the 
threshold of his usefulness. His life should be an in- 
spiration for years to come as an example of the eminence 
attained by a Michigan boy born in humble circum- 
stances who by earnest study and industry, coupled 
with a pure life, strove to advance the highest ideals of 
citizenship. Michigan owes a debt to LaAvton T. Hemans 
who literally sacrificed his life in her service. 



62 



^electeb ^oems of iWr. Remans! 



63 



Manhood 

In life's fierce contested battle 
It is manhood that prevails; 

Sterling merit wins in trial 
Where less virtue always fails. 

With a fixedness of purpose 
And a consciousness of right, 

We may know the struggle's issue,- 
And 'twill help us in the fight. 

Men are sometimes given garlands 
And their praises fill the land 

Though they live for gravest error, 
If beside them many stand. 

But the lasting, nobler portion, 
Highest palm of human might, 

Is to him who for his manhood 
Stands alone because he's right. 

Written page of tragic story. 
Cunning art in sculptured stone, 

May not always voice his glory, — 
He's a monument alone. 



65 



As I Look Back 

Just what it is, for cert'in, I don't know 's I can say; 
But sumthin's been a tuggin' at my heart strings all the 

day. 
And now the evenin' cricket and the tickin' o' the clock 
Have kind o' started mem'ries that I'd almost clean 

forgot; 
And with them come the wonder, if I haven't reached at 

last 
The time when men go livin' in the joys o' the past; 
For seems to me I've noticed, that an old man's day o' joy 
Is never now or for'ard: but its always when a boy. 
And come to think it over, perhaps that's why I wish 
That I was back at Mason, in old Ingham Count}^, Mich. 

It ain't because I'm feelin' that it wasn't for the best 
When I left the home back yonder and traveled further 

west. 
I ain't no kick a comin', n'r a reason to complain, 
F'r life has give me fairly o' her pleasure and her gain. 
Tain't been a path o' roses, free from goadin' thorns o' 

sin. 
And the underbresh o' trial that my feet have wandered in. 
With me life's been a tussle; but I've made it give a share 
O' things that are substantial, 'long with a heap o' care. 
I've a hundred fertile acres, countin' plow land and wood. 
While with the village banker I'm a thousand to the good; 
It's 'bout all I'm entitled to, and surely more'n I'd had 
If I'd kept right on a stayin' where I used to be a lad. 



66 



For while I wa'n't exactly what the older folks called fast, 
I was a trifle speedy for to keep the pace and last. 
I was full o' life and ginger, and I kind'cr liked the cheer 
That I found at Horton's tavern, behind mj' mug o' beer. 
And there ain't no use denyin' that some reputation went, 
A kind o' boon companion, with the money that I spent. 
Of course the things I did then I ain't doin' any more. 
And it wouldn't be becomin' at my age to live 'em o'er; 
But when I stop and listen to the songs we used to sing. 
And see again the faces that my mem'ry seems to bring, 
I own to the inditement that I can't suppress the wish 
That I was back at Mason, in old Ingham County, Mich. 

For among the score o' faces that look at me with surprise, 
There's one that looks half sadly from a pair of azure eyes; 
'Tis a face o' modest beauty, with a form and grace o' 

pose 
That brings to mind the lily, and the blossom o' the rose; 
And in her smile o' sunshine there's a glow that seems to 

start 
All the latent buds o' passion in the desert o' my heart, 
And makes me yield a captive to a dreamlike undertow, 
That bears me swiftly backward to the days o' long ago. 
As o' yore, I'm slowly walkin' down an old familiar lane, 
While beside o' me's the presence o' my old sweetheart 

again. 
'Tis a day when apple blossoms are like snow upon the 

trees, 
And the freshness o' the meadows gives a perfume to the 

breeze; 



67 



When the sky is clear as crystal, and the heart is light as 

air, 
And the joyous note o' springtime seems vocal every- 
where. 
And as we walk together, I, in falt'ring words, confess 
The passion that is ragin' within my boyish breast. 
And though she speaks no answer, still my heart accepts 

the sign, 
As she draws a little closer and puts her hand in mine. 
For one swiftly passin' moment, I catch a thrill of bliss, 
That must have been intended for a better world than 

this; 
For it only stays an instant, and I 'waken to the day, 
When an angel lightly kissed her, and took her life away. 
And my heart is torn with anguish, as I see her borne to 

rest. 
With a bunch o' crimson roses, that she loved so, in her 

breast. 
The years since then are many, and they've brought a 

kindly balm, 
A sort o' benediction o' quietude and calm. 
Yet, when I get to thinkin', seems like I always wish 
That I was back at Mason, in old Ingham County, Mich. 



68 



Childhood 

Sweet happy hour of childhood's glee, 
From trials and cares and sorrows free; 
O, that the sunshine of thy spring 
Might last through life, and solace bring! 

Sweet childhood! bright in nature's beams, 
Thy life reflects thy happy dreams; 
Thy laugh is full and glad and free 
As ever lark's might wash to be. 

For thee each dell and shady bower 
Is garden for some wild-wood flower, — 
Some secret holds alone for thee, 
A tribute to thine ecstasy. 

From copse and scented hedgerow sweet 
Comes trill of thrush, thine ear to greet; 
It comes, as music to thine ear. 
Such as the older never hear. 

So, memory seeks the days long past. 
To find the joys too sweet to last; 
To live again the days of youth, 
Made joyous bj^ fond hope and truth. 

Sweet happy hour of childhood's glee, 
Elysium thou seem'st to be! 
O, that the sunshine of life's spring 
Might last through life, and solace bring! 
69 



The Harp and the Shamrock 

There's a green isle afar in the ocean 

Where men have known sorrow and wrong, 

Where the shamrock's the sign of devotion, 
And the harp is the emblem of song. 

'Tis the island of Erin, whose fountains 
Are limpid and bright in their flow; 

Whose plains and whose valleys and mountains 
Rejoice in the emerald's glow. 

But it harbors a race that's been driven 
Like beasts bearing burdens of toil, 

The joy of whose life has been given 
For the right to have huts on it's soil. 

They've been exiled by want and oppression. 
Thrust out to the ends of the earth; 

But the. power that stole their possession 
Has never deprived them of mirth. 

For the harp and the shamrock have ever 
Been strength for their burdens of care, 

And made it the land where forever 
They smile in the face of despair. 

This green isle has sent to each nation 
The lad and the lass without fear. 

Who have lightened the world's tribulation 
With the laughter and song of good cheer. 

70 



They've followed the bright star of empire 
As westward it circled the world, 

And patiently guarded each camp-fire 
Where the fair flag of freedom unfurled. 

Wherever has freedom demanded 

That men should meet death with a smile. 
There, — there! in the fore-front, were banded 

The sons of this Emerald Isle. 

And when, after horrors that sicken, 
The quest of the struggle was gained. 

On the face of the mangled and stricken 
The smile of the conflict remained, — 

To tell that the shamrock can ever 
Give strength for all burdens of care, 

And prove that the harp will forever 
Beat back the dark clouds of despair. 



71 



A Dark Day 

Out of the darkness of human woe 

Spring the joys that remain, — that never go. 

As when in the distance a dark cloud appears, 
Within whose folds hide Nature's tears; 

In pity they fall from out the skies, 
Like drops of sorrow from human eyes; 

The earth seems sad, there is no room 

For joys of sunshine in the gathering gloom, — 

The thunders roll, and lightnings flash, 
The earth seems scourged by an angry lash. 

But the heart in faith looks up, beyond, 
And sees God's work without despond. 

In the glad tomorrow the flowers appear. 
And Heaven's realm seems strangely near. 

God's message of love man here may learn. 
That life's wages are joy in sorrow earned, — 

That out of the darkness of human woe 
Spring the joys that remain and never go. 



72 



To A Faded Wild-rose 

Wild-rose of brook-side meadow, 
How changed thy vernal sh'een 

Since thou wert torn, a trophy, 
From thy bower of leafy green. 

Then thy blush was like the dawning 
Of the morning's ruddy light, 

When first it breaks in glory 
On the pall of fading night. 

Then about thy fragile petals 
A breath of fragrance hung, 

While on thj^ leaves the jewels 
Of the dew in clusters clung. 

From thy inner depth of beauty. 

Sweet and pure, there seemed to start 

A charm, that woke to music 

Dormant chords within the heart. 

But now, in leaf nor petal 
Are retained perfume or glow. 

To tell the storied triumphs 
That were thine long j^ears ago. 

Yet, for this, shall I discard thee? 

And because no longer fair, 
Crushed and torn, cast thee from me. 

Without further thought or care? 

73 



Rather, I shall better love thee, 
And recall that not in vain 

Is the life of rose or mortal 

That can soothe an hour of pain. 



74 



To THE Infinite 

Tumultuous rolling years of time! 
From out thy mists, a Voice, sublime. 

Proclaims Thy name; 
Unfathomed, space adjoins with time. 
Blending in universal rhyme, 

To sing Thy fame. 
Great Power, that holds, and onward hurls, 
The order of vast circling worlds, 

Hail! Lord above! 
As is Thy name, Thy fame, Thy plan, 
So, mirrored in the heart of man, 

Transcendent Love. 



75 



Autumn 

When, with charm of golden beauty, 
Autumn days begin to glow. 
And with melancholy music, 
Soft autumnal winds do blow, 

Forest aisles with whispering murmurs 
Lure to ponder and to dream. 
And reveal life's wondrous glories 
In each leaf, and flower, and stream. 

Night, in all her radiant splendor, 
Glorious revelation sends; 
Star, and crescent of the morning, 
Tell of love that never ends. 

Pomp of color lavish spending, 
Purple mist obscures the hills; 
Gold, with green together blending, 
Riot runs where'er it wills. 

Not for naught this blissful vision, 
Caught from some celestial art, — 
Leaf, and flower, and dream, are fashioned 
From the same great glowing Heart. 



76 



The ^Morning Star 

Gem of night's fast fading splendor, smiling o'er the 

eastern hills, 
Nature with a pean greets thee, and each heart with 

rapture fills. 
Magic, in thy tranquil glory, turns each dew-drop to a 

pearl, 
Brighter than the rarest treasure in the casket of an earl. 
Song birds swell their matin carols, ecstasies of pure 

delight, 
When thy beams fall like a blessing on retreating steps of 

Night. 
In thy light, like vestal radiance trembling from the 

eastern sky, 
Fondly lovers seal their pligh tings with, a kiss, and last 

good-bye. 
Ah! full many a fond emotion fans to life, when, from afar, 
Eyes behold thy proud ascension, O thou queenly Morning 

Star! 



77 



The Farm in the Valley 

You kin talk about your rural scenes, your country seats 

and sich, 
Uv "Brierwood" and "Springbrook " farms, playthings uv 

the rich, 
Where pampered sons uv Standard He and Steel Trusts 

sniff the air. 
To tone their constitutions up, and free their hearts fr'm 

care; 
They're surely things uv beauty to the man that's huntin' 

art, — 
But they're far from satisfyin' to the honest country heart. 
They're more like grand asylums where men kin ease the 

shock 
That comes to 'em from sellin' their blocks uv watered 

stock. 

I've roamed about full many a day these gorgeous play- 
thing farms, 

But I've always left confessin' they are destichute uv 
charms ; 

Because, I know what real farms are, — and there's always 
in my eye 

A farm that's to my likin's same's a piece uv azure sky. 

It's a tidy bit uv valley, same's in a picture fills 

Up the space between the forests and the farther rolhn' 
hills; 

There are fields uv crimson clover, uv wheat and rustlin' 
corn. 

With pastures fresh an' fragr'nt with the nectar uv the 

morn. 

78 



There's a cottage by the orchard, roses climbin' o'er the 

door, 
Through which sunshine and shadow fall in checks across 

the floor. 
And from out that open doorway, if y'r only standin' near, 
A song same's like a bird song comes a floatin' to your ear. 
It's the singin' uv my Maggie, who through the livelong 

day 
Keeps a singin' while she's workin' just the same's though 

'twas play. 
There are children fresh and ruddj^ out a-playin' on the 

green, 
And there's sure no need to tell you they're the jewels uv 

the scene. 

There's an air uv home and comfort there, wherever you 

may look, 
From the barn, where nest the swallows, to the babblin' 

meadow brook. 
E'en the well-sweep, with the bucket tilted on the mossy 

brink, 
Is a temptin' invitashun to a cool refreshin' drink; 
And the dinner-bell seems sidelin' so's 'twas 'bout to give 

the peal 
That would call the men and horses up out uv the distant 

fiel'. 
Now from what I've been a tellin', I've no doubt that you 

kin see 
That this farm, so nigh perfecshun, is one that b'longs 

to me. 



79 



And you may be likewise thinkin' that its beauty and its 

charm 
Is because it keeps and shelters all mj^ loved ones out uv 

harm; 
But your thinkin's at your pleasure, — I'm as sure as I 

can be 
That no " Springbrook " rural palace would be quite the 

thing for me. 
For the comfort that's the real thing I have found beyent 

a doubt 
Depends more on what's within you than on what you've 

got without. 
So I'd ruther have an acre, and a heart kept full uv mirth, 
Than to waste with cares oppressin' as the price uv all 

the earth. 



80 



Life 



As I sit alone by my office window looking into the 
night, from the street below comes the subdued sobbing 
of a child. Some sorrow has touched a young heart, 
and my sympathies go out to the little one who is being 
made acquainted with one of the great facts of life. The 
thought comes to me. What is life? — and the answ^er, 

To hope with a hope never failing. 

And struggle with might and with main; 

To hear the world cheer when you're wimiing. 

And laugh when you struggle in vain. 

To fall, and to rise and press onward. 

In quest of earth's bounty and cheer ;^ 

To find at the end of the journey 

You look through the mist of a tear. 

What is life? 

To hope with a hope never failing, 
To struggle with might and with main, 
Unswerved by the cheer when you're wimiing. 
Or the laugh when j^ou've struggled in vain; 
To fall; but to rise and press onward, 
With a heart ever buoyant with cheer, 
Ever lured by the bright star of duty, 
Though the eyes may be dimmed with a tear. 



SI 



The Falling Star 

111 autumn nights I wander oft alone, 
Eyes cast to Heaven with my heart's desire; 
For, while a star falls, if our wish we own, 
We gain the gift to which we may aspire. 

Dear, 'tis but one wish my heart can frame, 
When falls a star; I only think of thee. 
I long that thy pure love remain the same, — 
That in my exile thou shouldst think of me. 

Alas, this fancy I would fain believe. 
For naught have I to comfort me beside ; 
But Winter's bitter winds begin to grieve, 
And his dark clouds the star's soft glory hide. 

— Translated from the French. 

IN ANSW^ER 

Yet shall I doubt that stars in glory shine. 
Because dark clouds the constellations hide? 
Or fear thy ardent love's no longer mine, 
When fate of exile takes thee from my side? 

No, dear; though clouds of winter hide the light 
Of stars that swing like censer lamps on high, 
I still shall know, beyond the pall of night. 
They jewel the milky baldric of the sky. 



82 



And by this token, from the stars of night, 
My faith shall span the leagues of wintry sea, 
And I shall know the sum of love's delight- 
That all is well between thyself and me. 



83 



To A Faded Violet 

Crushed and fragile, dead and faded, 
Still I love thee, — better far 
Than when thou wert sprightly growing, 
Blithe, and young, and debonair. 

Not because a woodland flavor 
Lingers in thy trace of blue. 
Which once vied, a jealous rival. 
With the heavens' royal hue; 

But because red lips have kissed thee. 
And though faded now, and old, 
Still, for memories' sake, I love thee 
More than wealth of yellow gold. 



84 



Love's Token 

Sweetheart, know that I remember, 
Though the fleeting days of time 
Bring no message to thee, saying, 
"All the love I have is thine." 

And when Spring shall wave her banners, 
And the Morning Star shall burn, 
I'll remember, by the token, 
That, unsaid, mv love's returned. 



85 



To A Wild Rose 

No longer the breath of the meadow 

Is thine, my bonnie wild rose; 
No longer the blush of Aurora 

In the depth of thy chalice glows. 

But still in thy ashes there lingers 

A charm that is dearer to me, 
Than any thy beauty exerted 

When thou wert the queen of the lea. 

For a kiss once made thee a token, 
Of a love that should never grow old, 

That should live in the golden hereafter, 

When the lips that had breathed it were cold. 



S6 



A Rift in the Cloud 

From clouds of lead the rain drops down, 
In the lonesome streets of the drear old town. 
In withering gusts it strikes the panes, 
And I say, in my sorrow, "It rains! It rains!" 

The clouds of sorrow roll over my heart, 
While as from a fountain the tear drops start, 
And I long for childhood's days again, — 
For a mother to come and to soothe my pain. 

When lo! a rift in the cloud I see, 

A little bird sings his song of glee. 

The sun peeps out in the brightening sky. 

And the cloud from my heart has been lifted high. 



87 



As THE Moon Shines in at the Window 

How our thoughts at random fly, 
Guarded keep them though we try, 
When alone we sit and hsten 
As the moon's soft haze and gUsten 
Chases with its mellow light 
Lowering shadows of the night. 

The splashing wheel down by the mill. 
The bellowing kine upon the hiW, 
Silent as if half in fright 
At the silver sheen of night. 
Only cricket's chirp is heard 
Trilling love song, in a word. 

Nature seems all hushed and still. 
E'en shy laughter of the rill 
Comes in muffled quiet tones 
From its bed of moss and stones, 
While the moon with beaming pride 
Glints the mirror of its tide. 

Pensive, peaceful, each thing seems. 
Clad in raiment of her beams, 
Resting tranquil in her ray 
At the close of toilsome day. 
Quiet reigns o'er moor and mart; 
Jo}" is here, — save in my heart. 



At the casement bathed in hght 
By the gorgeous Queen of Night, 
In revery sad and fancy free 
'Mid bygone years I seem to be. 
And this, a scene where all is glad. 
Stills my heart, and makes me sad. 

^^ain hopes I see, of other years. 
The blasted fruits, and present tears; 
I view the joys of days long past, — 
Dear joys, too sweet to live and last,- 
When the casement's bathed in light, 
By the gorgeous Queen of Night. 



89 



The Closing Year 

'Twas the closing of December; in the night alone sat I, 

Watching all the shadows deepen, and the embers slowly 
die. 

Listlessly I'd watched the firelight dance upon the dark- 
ened wall, 

Hardly conscious day Avas passing, and that night had 
spread its pall. 

A delicious languor seized me, and, yielding to its tow. 
It seemed to bear me backward through the days of long 

ago. 
And as I held communion with those happy days of j'ore, 
There came a feeble rapping, rapping at my outer door. 

Still I lingered, till the tapping was repeated once again. 
And my ear caught up the moaning of a feeble word of 

pain; 
Then I flung the door wide open, and in the failing light 
Saw the bent form of a stranger, outlined against the 

night. 

His aged form seemed yielding before the winter's grief, 
That whirled his tattered mantle like a dead and withered 
leaf. 
Welcome stranger! — welcome!" said I, to the aged sire; 
Come within my modest chamber, sit thee down beside 
the fire." 



90 



Spectral like, he slowly entered, moving with a halting- 
pace, 

While I marked his shrunken figure, silvered locks, and 
kindly face. 

Not a word had yet been uttered by my strange nocturnal 
guest 

TeUing from what bourn he traveled, or the object of his 
quest. 

"Ancient Sage," at last I queried, "tell, what cause of 

mortal woe 
Sends thee like a hunted wildling through this night of 

wind and snow? 
Does some tragic memory drive thee aimless on from 

place to place. 
Or does some thought of evil lurk beneath thy kindly 



grace 



"Child of mine," he slowly answered, "let my presence 

bring no fear; 
I am but the shade of Winter; I'm the closing of the year." 
Then from memory he a story told of sorrow and of joy. 
Reaching back from Age's evening to the days when yet 

a boy. 

'Twas as though I saw before me vernal Spring in human 

life 
Changing to voluptuous Summer, manhood days of hope 

and strife; 
Ending in the haze of Autumn and the wintry chilling 

blast, 

As the sands of life were running vriih the last turn of 

the glass. 

91 



Like faint distant strains of music, in this story I could 

hear 
Youthful shouts and boyish laughter full of hope and 

void of fear; 
Words of love and passion mingled with discordant strife 

for fame, 
And the ceaseless labored battle after power and worldly 

gain; 

Till at last, like evening vespers, faintly borne upon my 

ear. 
Came the murmur of the twilight of life's yellow leaf and 

sear. 
When he ceased, we sat in silence, till the bells rang loud 

and clear, 
Telling, in their tones of silver, advent of a glad New 

Year. 

Then it was, my guest of evening faded from my mortal 

sight. 
And was gone, and gone forever, in the darkness of the 

night; 
But the bells still rang the louder, and they said in sweet 

refrain, 
"Though the year grows old and sterile, bud and bloom 

will come again; 

Bud and bloom will come again." 



92 



The New Year 

The night wind whispers a requiem, 
A sigh for the old, dead year; 

And my heart is moved with pity. 
As I join with the worth of a tear. 

My grief, it wells deep and real. 
When the night wind whispers low. 

And tells me how, out of sorrows, 
Life's purest and best joys grow. 

So I turn from the bier of the old, 
Where I've laid my wreath of rue; 

I turn with the smile of peace, 

And welcome the birth of the new. 



93 



^electeb C^siaps anb ^bbressies 



95 



Michigan 

"Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice," is the 
appropriate and suggestive legend chosen to grace the great 
seal of the State of Michigan. To all who come within 
her borders, seekers of a beautiful land, Michigan says, 
"Look about you," and surely his quest must be satisfied 
if he but obey the injunction. If men live forth their 
environment, if they draw a subtle influence from the 
land in which they live, appropriating nature's beauties, 
the ruggedness of her outlines and the variety of her 
charms, to transform and reflect their very essence into 
life and thought, then was the land we know as Michigan 
in the beginning predestined as the home of a great and 
mighty people. 

The world presents few if any localities of such restricted 
area where nature has been more lavish in the variety 
of her gifts. In its extreme north it presents a landscape 
telling the story of earthly tumult; there, in jagged rocks, 
and mighty hills, and dark ravines, have been written the 
imperishable record of earthquake and glacier and the 
mighty forces that contended in the building of a world; 
there, in mountains whose feet are bathed in that tideless 
ocean, the mighty Superior, have been stored nearly 
every mineral of prime necessity to man; there, men 
stubbornly contest for the treasures of Nature's hoarding, 
while their hearts grow strong as the crags, and as free 
as the waves. 



A Fourth of July oration delivered at Onondaga some thirty-five years ago. 

97 



To the southward stretch great forests, gray and 
primeval, full of their silent life and mystery. In their 
quiet depths the noble stag takes his morning drink from 
fern-fringed lake or stream, where the finny tribe sport 
well-nigh unmolested, making it the sportsman's paradise. 

Again southward, and the landscape changes. We pass 
from pine and hemlock wood whose aromatic odors are 
pleasingly blended with the perfume of the arbutus to a 
land where the elm, the oak, the beech and the maple 
were the giants of the forest in the days before the sound 
of the woodsman's axe was heard. Now we look out 
upon a rich pastoral scene stretching away mile upon 
mile to the State's southerly border. The southern half 
of the Lower Peninsula is unreserved in the exhibition 
of its agricultural opulence. Here hill, vale and wood- 
land are gathered together in picturesque commingling, 
over which summer throws its mantle of emerald. The 
land may be said to be gently undulating; approfjriate 
seasons show blossoming orchards, fields of billowy 
grain, meadows rich in perfume and promise, while 
innumerable flocks and herds dot the hillsides. Placid 
lakes and smooth flowing rivers rest the eye of the be- 
holder and add the charm of variety. Thriving viUages, 
whose people are at one with their rustic neighbors, are 
common; cities and more pretentious marts of trade, alive 
with the whirr of industry and busy with the schemes of 
trade are yearly adding to their populations. 

Surrounding this great State, within a day's travel of 
its every inhabitant, roll the great unsalted seas. The 
Great Lakes! While time shall be, and men shall marvel 
at Nature's grand displays, these mighty inland waters 

98 



shall stand, second only to the ocean, in the hold which 
they have on the imaginations of men. Storm-tossed 
or placid, they are ever the same. One stands upon 
their shores, and looks off across their restless blue, and 
there comes the feeling of the insignificance of self, 
mingled with the inexpressible thoughts of the grandeur, 
the might and the power of nature and nature's God, 
whose handiwork we can behold and yet fail to under- 
stand. In many places, the waters are buttressed by bold 
and rocky headlands; but more often, their force is spent 
upon the inclined stretch of glistening sand. A mighty 
commerce plows their surface, mth its fleets of white 
sails and blackened funnels moving in almost constant 
procession through the passes at the Sault, Mackinac 
and Detroit. To the dwellers upon a thousand miles of 
these rugged shores, there comes from the watery waste a 
spirit, a sentiment and an inspiration, known only to 
those who "go down to the sea in ships." If these great 
waters exert an influence upon the minds of those who 
daily live in their contemplation, they have still a greater 
influence upon the temper of air and clime, so softening 
and modifying their rigors that on these shores are ripened 
in perfection both the hardy apple and the luscious 
peach. Small wonder there is soul and heart in the 
schoolboy's song when he sings, 

Home of my heart, I sing of thee, 

Michigan, my Michigan. 
Thy lake-bound shores I long to see, 

Michigan, my Michigan. 



99 



The First Judicial History of Michigan 

The transmutations that have taken place since white 
men first took up their abode within our borders have 
been such that the history ot Michigan forms one of the 
most unique chapters in the history of our common 
country. To write of the first supreme court would be 
to write of a matter within the memory of men now 
living. But the limitations of my subject are far broader. 
They permit of a commencement and termination of the 
judicial story anywhere within the past two centuries; 
since, when the constitution of 1850 was adopted, for 
more than that length of time civilization had struggled 
for a foothold upon our soil. 

With the founding of Detroit, La Motte Cadihac was 
invested with all the power belonging to the highest 
feudal lordship which then obtained in France. During 
the period of French control over the soil of Michigan, 
there was nothing to stimulate the growth of local self- 
government, even had the germs lain dormant in the 
nature of the Franco-Canadian. The reputation of the 
French colonist was farirom that of being litigious, and 
his civic regulations and requirements were quite suffi- 
ciently discharged by the cure, the commandant and the 
deputy intendant, with legal formalities furnished by 
the duly commissioned notary. In the Territory of 
Michigan, which embraced Detroit and Michilimackinac, 
the lives of the habitants were in the hands of the com- 
mandant; and while upon one or two occasions this 
officer resorted to extreme penalties, as a rule the simple 

From the Michigan Historical Collections, XXXV, 537. 

100 



lives of the people called for little or no interposition of 
judicial authority. 

In November, 1760, the cross of St. George was raised 
over Fort Pontchartrain and later over Micliilimackinac, 
and by the treaty of Paris in 1763 Michigan, as a portion 
of Canada, passed under the dominion of the British 
Cro^\^l. In the interim between possession by force of 
arms and treaty rights, the government was purely 
mihtary, as would be expected. It would have been 
much better had General Gage, in its exercise, at all 
times followed the judicious counsels of Sir William 
Johnson, a sterling character of ^visdom, honesty and 
integrity. While the constitution may not always follow 
the flag, it has always been supposed that courts of 
justice followed Anglo-Saxon civiHzation and control; 
yet Michigan Territory under British possession was to 
form an exception to this rule. Upon the assumption of 
sovereignty under the treaty of Paris, the king of Great 
Britain, by a proclamation under date of October 7, 1763, 
established four separate governments, known as Quebec, 
East Florida, West Florida, and Grenada. Into these 
provinces were introduced the civil and criminal law of 
England, but neither Michigan nor any part of the Terri- 
tory north of Michigan, under the provisions of the 
famous Quebec Act, was to come within the pale of civil 
government, and then in name only. 

The commandants of English authority changed but 
little the rule of their French predecessors. If they did 
not exercise authority themselves, they delegated it to 
others. Under some such arrangement, one Gabriel 
LaGrand seems to have exercised some of the functions 

101 



of a justice of the peace in 1765. Later, and in 1767, 
the commandant, Captain George Turnbull, commissioned 
one Phihp Dejean a justice of the peace, with powers to 
make inquiry but not to render judgment, except upon 
the joint request of the parties. Later in the same year 
Robert Bayard, the major commanding, granted Dejean 
a further commission as "second judge" to hold a "Tem- 
pery Court of Justice to be held tAvice in every month at 
Detroit, to Decide on all actions of Debt, Bonds, Bills, 
Contracts and Trespasses above the value of five Pounds, 
New York Currency." The first judge, it is presumed, 
was the commandant himself, who continued to ad- 
minister judicial proceedings, as was customary with the 
deputy intendant of the French regime. In the annals 
of Wisconsin for about the same time we are told the 
story of one Judge Reaume, who acted under similar 
authority, but more distant from the source of power, at 
Green Bay; who, in lieu of process, summoned the de- 
linquent before him by sending his jackknife as warrant 
of its possessor's authority. If we may credit the tradi- 
tions that come to us of this pioneer wearer of the ermine, 
we may believe that his judgments were as original as 
his process, for he turned the short-comings of those who 
came under the ban of his decrees to his own account by 
requiring them to hoe in the judicial garden and replenish 
the judicial woodpile. 

In 1775 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, of unsavory 
memory, arrived in Detroit, clothed with well-nigh un- 
limited powers, both administrative and judicial. Under 
his sway Dejean continued to exercise his powers as a 
justice of the peace. They soon brought the authorities 

102 



at Quebec to a realizing sense of conditions at the distant 
post by proceeding, in 1776, to try by a jury of six English 
and six French, a man and a woman on the joint charge 
of arson and larceny. The jury found that they were 
guilty of the larceny, but of the proofs showing arson 
they had some doubts. The verdict was, however, 
considered warrant for the execution of the man, the 
woman acting as his executor, she receiving her freedom. 
For this unwarranted act, warrants were issued from 
Quebec for the arrest of both commandant and justice; 
and while both escaped, by reason of the public attention 
being engrossed with the events of the Revolution, it had 
the effect nevertheless of making both more circumspect 
in the discharge of their judicial functions. 

In later years, the Lieutenant Governor seems to have 
tired of the routine of judicial procedure, for we have the 
authority of Judge May, who came to Detroit in 1778, 
to the effect that in 1777 the Governor " getting tired of 
administering justice, proposed to the merchants to es- 
tablish a court of trustees with jurisdiction extending to 
£10, Halifax;" that eighteen of them entered into a bond 
that three of them should be a weekly court in rotation, 
and that they would defend any appeal that might be 
taken from their decision, — the appellate body being 
presumably the Governor. They rendered judgments, 
issued executions, and imprisoned in the guard house. 
This proceeding seems to have given satisfaction, for I 
have in my possession an old document which shows that 
the plan was later inaugurated at Michilimackinac, and 
in 1788 the examination of Mr. Robertson before Lord 
Dorchester at Quebec on the memorial of "divers in- 

103 



habitants of Detroit" asking for better judicial facilities, 
disclosed that in his opinion the court of arbitration 
worked so well that it would quite meet the needs of the 
post if it could be clothed with legal power and authority. 
This memorial from the traders and citizens of Detroit 
was brought out by the fact, that in the same year Lord 
Dorchester had by proclamation created four districts 
in Upper Canada, with a court of record for each, — 
Michigan, being still under British control, fell within the 
district of Hesse. The court was known as the court of 
common pleas, and from its decisions there was no appeal, 
except to the Governor and Council. The Hon. William 
Dummel Powell was the first judge of this court, assuming 
his duties in 1790. Subsequent legislation by the council 
of Upper Canada brought the people of our territorial 
limits the rights to general quarter sessions of the peace, 
the jury system, later a court of probate, and later still a 
superior court of civil and criminal, and other courts of 
higher, jurisdiction. The last term of court held at 
Detroit under British authority was concluded on January 
29, 1796. Before the holding of another term, another 
event had transpired, whereby the cross of St. George 
was supplanted by the stars and stripes, and British 
dominion by the rule of a free people. 

On August 18, 1796, Winthrop Sargent, Acting Governor 
of the Northwest Territory, by letters patent created the 
county of Wayne, whose limits contained the lower 
peninsula of Michigan and the greater portion of the 
present States of Ohio and Indiana. Its county seat 
was fixed at Detroit. He likewise created a court of 
common pleas, with powers similar to those of its Canadian 

104 



predecessor. Judicial appointments to the bench of this 
court were made by the executive, and Louis Beaufait, 
James May, Charles Girardin and many others served 
in that capacity. The supreme court of the Northwest 
Territory held one session yearly, at Detroit. At the 
time of the creation of Wayne County, Rufus Putnam, 
John C. Symmes and George Turner constituted the 
court. This court was regular in the holding of its 
sessions at Detroit until the creation of the Territory of 
Ohio in 1803, at which time our soil became a part of 
Indiana Territory. Our connection ^vith Indiana was of 
short duration, and merits little more than notice. Some 
legislation was enacted, but its nature is not now known. 
In 1805 Michigan Territory was created, and the Act 
creating it contained all the essential features of the 
Ordinance of 1787. 

From 1805, in Michigan, dates the rule of the Governor 
and Judges. William Hull was appointed Governor and 
Stanley Griswold was made his secretary. Augustus B. 
Woodward, Samuel Huntington and Frederick Bates 
were named and confirmed as judges. Mr. Huntington 
wisely declined the appointment and John Griffin was 
appointed in his stead. The Judges were appointed for 
life or during good behavior. Had the last provision 
been enforced, the term of Judge Woodward would not 
have exceeded six months; as it was, he served for more 
than twenty years. As there were no counties then 
organized in Michigan other than the county of Wayne, 
the Governor and Judges, for judicial purposes, divided 
the Territory into three districts, known thereafter as 
the districts of Erie, Huron and Detroit, the district of 

10^ 



Mackinaw being of somewhat later creation. Their 
names sufficiently give their locations. The Governor 
and Judges soon adopted a code of laws, and provided for 
a judicial system. Matters of small importance were 
left to the disposal of justices of the peace; a court of 
intermediary jurisdiction was created over all land cases, 
and concurrent jurisdiction over civil causes involving, 
at first, two hundred dollars, and later five hundred dollars, 
with the general powers of an appellate court. 

The long career of Judge Woodward upon this bench 
is one of the most picturesque in the history of our judic- 
iary. He was a strange combination of ^visdom and tur- 
bulence. His conduct in attempting to punish Major 
John Whipple as for contempt of court in his use of 
disrespectful language upon the public street, his almost 
constant quarrels with Governor Hull and other members 
of the court, created scandals that have lasted to this 
day. The district courts survived until 1809. By 1820 
the counties of Wayne, Moiu-oe, Mackinac, Macomb and 
Oakland had been organized, and in that year a system 
of county courts was established, to be presided over by a 
chief justice and two associate justices in each county. 
They had original jurisdiction in all civil matters not 
cognizable by a justice and not exceeding one thousand 
dollars, and of crimes and offenses where the punishment 
was not capital. The supreme court retained original 
jurisdiction in all civil causes where the matter in differ- 
ence exceeded one thousand dollars, all causes of divorce 
and alimony, all actions in ejectment, trial of criminal 
actions where the punishment was capital, and con- 
current jurisdiction with comity courts in trial of criminal 

106 



causes generally, and appellate jurisdiction in all matters 
of a civil nature where county court had original juris- 
diction. 

Congressional action in 1823 revolutionized the Ter- 
ritorial government. It provided for a legislative body 
in the territorial council and changed the tenure of 
judicial officer from life to four years. Three judges 
still constituted the supreme court, and one effect of the 
act was to drop Judge Woodward from the number. 
County courts were still retained and the judges of the 
supreme court were authorized to hold court in given 
circuits, the places of holding being designated as Detroit, 
Monroe, Mount Clemens and St. Clair. The judicial 
system was a subject of frequent legislation, and in 1833 
the Territory of Michigan east of the lake and outside 
of the present county of WajTie was created into a judicial 
circuit, to which the Hon. William A. Fletcher was ap- 
pointed as circuit judge; this circuit embraced the counties 
of Monroe, Lenawee, Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, Berrien, 
Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Jackson, Washtenaw, Oakland, 
St. Clair, and Macomb. For riding this circuit and 
dispensing justice. Judge Fletcher received one thousand 
dollars per year. Two side judges lent their dignity to 
the court and were a quorum for the transaction of 
business, but no person charged with an offense above the 
degree of a misdemeanor could be asked to stand trial 
in the absence of the presiding judge; but no one escaped 
trial for this reason, for the journals in each of the counties 
of the circuit will show that Judge Fletcher was generally 
on hand to discharge the duties of his office. The supreme 
court continued to exist as such, and its functions as a 

107 



circuit court were likewise retained and exercised under 
the name of superior circuit court in the circuits formed 
of the counties to which they had first been appointed 
and the counties attached to such counties for judicial 
purposes. Provision had been likewise made for a 
judiciary in that vast territory under Michigan juris- 
diction embraced within the bounds of Lake Superior, 
Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River and the southern 
limits of the present State of Iowa. Such were the con- 
ditions of the judiciary of Michigan when her people 
adopted the constitution of. 1835. Under the provisions 
of that instrument one of the first acts of the legislature 
of 1836 was the passage of an act to organize the supreme 
court and to establish circuit courts. It received its 
approval on the 26th day of March, 1836. It was concise 
and direct in its terms. The supreme court was to be 
composed of three judges, the first named of whom was 
to be the chief justice. The State was divided into three 
circuits and one judge of the supreme court was assigned 
to each of the circuits, while in each county provision 
was made for the election of two associate judges for the 
term of four years each. Two judges of the supreme 
court and two judges of circuit court in each instance 
formed a quorum, but in the circuit courts no person 
could be tried for an offense of greater degree than a 
misdemeanor, in the absence of the presiding judge. The 
supreme court was given the jurisdiction of the supreme 
and superior circuit courts and the circuit courts the 
jurisdiction of the circuit court of the former Territory, 
except equity jurisprudence, which was given to the 
care of a chancellor's court. In a general way our circuit 

108 



and supreme court still exercise the same jurisdiction as 
the pioneer courts of Michigan. 

In the creation of the circuits, Wayne, Macomb, St. 
Clair, Lapeer, Michilimackinac and Chippewa, and the 
counties attached to each for judicial purposes, con- 
stituted the first judicial circuit. The second judicial 
circuit was composed of the counties of Monroe, Lenawee, 
Washtenaw, Oakland, Saginaw, Jackson, and Hillsdale, 
and like^vise the counties attached to such counties for 
judicial purposes; and the third judicial circuit was 
formed from the counties of Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, 
Berrien, Kalamazoo, Allegan, Calhoun, and Kent, and the 
counties that had been attached to them for judicial 
purposes. The law made provision for two terms of 
court a year in each county, while the supreme court 
held its session for the first circuit at Detroit, on the first 
Monday of September; for the second circuit, at Ann 
Arbor, on the third Monday of December; and for the 
third circuit, at Kalamazoo on the first Monday in 
August. The meager records of the early court would 
seem to indicate that certiorari was the most popular 
means of reviewing questions in the supreme court, 
although wTit of error and case made were frequently 
employed. In the later years of the court a practice, 
not without merit, seems to have grown up of reserving 
the more intricate questions and cases of importance in 
the circuit courts for reargument and submission to the 
full bench. 

By another Act, chancery jurisdiction, including the 
power to grant divorces, was conferred upon a separate 
chancery court, presided over by a chancellor who was 

109 



required to hold two sessions annually in each of the 
judicial circuits of the State, the clerk of the supreme 
court in each circuit being likewise a register in chancery. 
From the decrees of the chancellor an appeal could be 
taken to the supreme court. 

Most State officers under the constitution of 1835 were 
appointed by the Governor, and the judiciary was no 
exception. The first appointment for member of the 
supreme court, made by Governor Mason, was given to 
William Asa Fletcher of Ann Arbor, who had taken up 
his residence there to comply with the law of 1833 under 
which he had been made the circuit judge for the circuit 
east of Lake Michigan; being the first named, ne 
thereby became the chief justice and entitled to sixteen 
hundred dollars per year, whereas his associates, George 
Morrell and Epaphroditus Ransom, who resiDcctively 
occupied the circuit benches in the first and third cir- 
cuits, received but fifteen hundred dollars each; which 
sum was like^\dse the compensation of the chancellor, 
the office so ably filled by Elon Farnsworth. 

Judge Fletcher was born June 26, 1788. He was the 
son of an intelligent New Hampshire farmer, who fre- 
quently filled the pulpit of the Congregational Church 
of his native towTi of Plymouth. His mother was of a 
prominent family of the State. Judge Fletcher received 
a good education. His service at the bar of Detroit 
dated from 1821, and before being appointed to the cir- 
cuit judgeship, in 1833, he served three years as chief 
justice of the Wayne County court and as attorney 
general of the Territory. He was the author of the first 
compilation of the statutes of the State, and until 1842 

110 



served with honor and fideht}' in, the high position of 
chief justice. He died at Ann Arbor, September 19, 
1852; and it is not to the credit of Michigan that his 
ashes repose in an unmarked and perhaps an unknown 
grave. A few years ago, as laborers dug a sewer through 
what was once a cemetery, but what is now Felch Park, 
in Ann Arbor, they discovered a casket which an aged 
lady recognized as the one in which Judge Fletcher was 
consigned to earth; w^here this was placed I have not 
learned, but wherever it may be, the bench and bar of 
Michigan can do a valuable service by seeing that the 
fate of WiUiam A. Fletcher shall not be added to that list 
which, it is claimed, shows the ingratitude of repubhcs. 

Hon. George Morrell was two years the senior of Judge 
Fletcher, having been born at Lenox, Massachusetts, 
March 22, 1786. He was given the benefit of a liberal 
education, graduating from WilHam's College in 1807. 
His legal practice began in 1810, and before his removal 
to Detroit in 1832 his attainments were such &s to cause 
his elevation to the federal bench. His death in DetKoit, 
March 8, 1845, was a cause of profound regret to a circle 
that was vnder than the hmits of the State of his adoption. 

Epaphroditus Ransom was likewise a son of New 
England, having been born at Shelboume Falls, New 
Hampshire County, Mas's., in 1797. It was his ovm 
exertions that made it possible for him to graduate from 
Chester Academy, and in 1832 from the law school of 
Northampton, Mass. He died at Fort Scott, Kansas, 
in November, 1859. His long service upon the supreme 
bench of Michigan and his subsequent election to the 
office of Governor of the State, are sufficient evidence of 

111 



his attainments and of the nobility of his Ufe and pur- 
poses. 

Of the early judicial quartet, Elon Farnsworth was the 
younger, he having been born at Woodstock, Vermont, 
in 1799; he also was the recipient of a college training. 
He came to Detroit in 1822, and before the formation of 
the State constitution he had served with distinction in 
the Territorial Council. Of his administration of his 
judicial office, the great Chancellor Kent said: "The 
administration of justice in equity in Michigan under 
Chancellor Farnsworth is enlightened and correct and 
does distinguished honor to the State." 

Perhaps no higher compliment to his service can be 
stated than to restate what was said of him at the bar 
service in his honor at Detroit on the occasion of his 
death, March 27, 1877; which was, that during his long 
years of service as chancellor no decision of his had ever 
been reversed. 

These men deserve our highest praise; amidst trials 
and hardships they blazed the pathway where it has been 
easy tor others to follow. Through weary miles of 
trackless forests, astride the ever faithful horse, they 
took their way to the crude settlements to hold court in 
the pioneer schoolhouse, sending the jury to deliberate 
under the shelter of a near-by oak, or perhaps vacating 
the building for their comfort. They laid the foundation 
of our judicial system in honor and integrity; they were 
sturdy characters, in every way worthy of our present- 
day emulation. 



112 



Michigan's Debt to Stevens T. Mason 

The debt which a commonwealth owes to any in- 
dividual must ever be a question difficult of determina- 
tion. The world will ever owe a debt of gratitude to 
that army of men and women, who, deterred by no 
obstacles, with faith in their convictions, with courage 
and intelligence, do their duty. The man who, in the 
full view of the multitude, directs the affairs of state, 
has no better claim to honor and distinction than the 
man who, in the lower walks of life, uncheered by the 
shouts of the people, does his duty. Duty should ever 
be our guide, the claim, and duty knows no path of pre- 
eminence or distinction. It is not given to men to 
measure, with any degree of certainty, the ultimate value 
of actions and events. The world has seen men who 
have walked the earth amid a blaze of glory but who, in 
death, have left nothing of value to the race ; it has known 
others who have wrought in want and obscurity to 
leave an influence growing brighter and more potent 
with the passing years. 

The debt which the great State of Michigan owes to 
the "boy governor" is the debt due for duty faithfully 
performed in the sphere where circumstances called him, 
and according to the light which he had. 

Stevens Thomson Mason was born at Leesburg, 
Loudoun County, Virginia, on the 27th day of October, 
1811. He died in New York City, January 4, 1843. 
Between these narrow limits his life was lived, the greater 
part of it for the State of Michigan; and yet, until now, no- 

From the Michigan Historical CMeclion^, XXXV, 214. 

113 



where has there been made a record within the State of 
even the place of his birth, or an acknowledgment of 
gratitude for the services which he rendered. 

The reason for this is not difficult to find. It has its 
origin in the political animosity which was a part of his 
time, and which constrained political opponents to with- 
hold the meed of praise while time held the memory of 
their contests. It is a matter of congratulation that 
those days are passing, and that the great State of Michi- 
gan is about to bestow a deserved tribute to his memory. 

It was the fortune of the Boy Governor to be born to 
the heritage of a good name, to have back of him a line 
of men who had achieved great things for their State and 
nation. George Mason, as the author of the "Bill of 
Rights," and the first constitution of Virginia, the friend 
of George Washington and Patrick Henry, left a name 
that is still large in the old commonwealth of Virginia. 
His son, the grandfather of the Boy Governor, had served 
with distinction as the first United States senator from 
his State, and his own father. General John T, Mason, 
had all the characteristics of his blood. When John T. 
Mason closed his college days at the historic college of 
William and Mary, he brought Ehzabeth Moyer a bride 
to his Loudoun County home. Stevens T. was the first 
son of this union, and we may well imagine the scene 
which was enacted in the old manor house which still 
stands at Raspberry Plain, when the numerous army 
of kinsfolk gathered to bless in baptism the name of this 
infant son. 

But little more than three years of the boy's life were 
to be spent upon Virginia soil. Kentucky was then the 

114 



land that beckoned to the ardent spirits of old Virginia, 
and thither John T. Mason and his family bent their 
way. Before 1815, he had become one of the leading 
figures in the business and social life of the then famed 
city of Lexington. For a time fortune smiled upon his 
efforts and he soon held a high place in the legal pro- 
fession, being connected in no small way with the financial 
life of the community, while many a broad acre of the 
charming blue grass country was his. About 1820 he 
became associated with, others in the iron business in the 
vicinity of Owingsville, Bath County. In a few years 
business depression and failing fortune swept awaj^ the 
greater part of his considerable estate. The education of 
Michigan's future first Governor had not been neglected. 
At first by private tutor, and later as a student in Tran- 
sylvania University, his time had been well employed; 
but with the closing days of the twenties the young lad 
left his books to become the helper in the family harness. 
As a grocer's clerk in the then village ot Mt. Sterling, 
although but a lad, he learned some lessons that are not 
taught in books. 

Enough has already been said to indicate that it was 
financial adversity that turned the attention of General 
John T. Mason towards a political appointment, and 
which brought him to the Territory of Michigan. It 
was to repair, if possible, his shattered fortune that he 
left his office as Secretary of the Territory and journeyed 
to Mexico, after first obtaining the appointment for his 
son, who as yet lacked some weeks of his nineteenth 
year. 

The story of the opposition that was occasioned by the 

115 



appointment has passed into history. It was to the 
credit of the young man, that under opposition his con- 
duct was such that he soon won the hearts and con- 
fidence of those who were his most vigorous opposers. 

It was the Toledo War, of course, which gave to the 
Boy Governor his first great popularity. Fortunately 
only the humorous side of that bloodless struggle now 
remains to us; but it was a far different matter in 1835. 
It was an issue then in which there was the most tense 
and earnest feeling, and no one voiced that feeling in 
Michigan with more zeal and fervor than did Stevens T. 
Mason. So insistent did he become in championing the 
rights of his feeble Territorj% that President Jackson, 
who had been his fast friend and supporter, was con- 
strained to remove him, and appoint a more pliable 
gentleman, John Horner of Virginia, in his stead. Had 
a man of less energy and less insistence occupied the 
position of chief executive of the Territory, we may well 
presume that Michigan would have been admitted with- 
out the Upper Peninsula as a Territorial compensation 
for the wrong she suffered. 

As has been already shown, aside from the refining 
influence of a cultured home, the educational advantages 
of the young Governor had not been extensive. His 
boyhood had been passed in a State where free schools 
and universal education were unknown, and yet one of 
the greatest services of the young man to the State of 
his adoption was to be in the cause of free schools. He 
appointed John D. Pierce to the important office of 
Superintendent of Public Instruction and ably championed 
his every effort. There is scarcely a message to the 

116 



legislature in which he does not urge the need of universal 
education. In many of them are expressed sentiments 
that might well adorn the walls of every schoolroom in 
the land. 

"If our country is ever to fall from her high position 
before the world, the cause will be found in the ignorance 
of the people; if she is to remain where she now stands, 
with her glory undimmed, educate every child in the 
land." 

Again he says: 

"Public opinion directs the course which our govern- 
ment pursues; and as long as the people are enlightened, 
that direction will never be misgiven. It becomes then 
our- imperious duty, to secure to the State a general 
diffusion of knowledge. This can in no wise be so cer- 
tainly effected, as by the perfect organization of a uniform 
and liberal system of common schools. Your attention 
is therefore called to the effectuation of a perfect school 
system open to all classes as the surest basis of public 
happiness and prosperity." 

He once interposed his veto in a manner to save a 
considerable part of the present endowment of the Uni- 
versity. It was an institution even in its infancy that 
was strong in his affections. Speaking of it in its days of 
want and poverty, he once said: "With fostering care 
this (the University) will become the pride of the great 
West." This prophecy of the Boy Governor has long 
since become true; and had he left to Michigan no other 
token of a watchful care, his efforts for the great Uni- 
versity of Michigan should gain for him our everlasting 
gratitude. 

117 



In the establishment of our penitentiary system, when 
the doctrines of vengeance were still carried out in penal 
institutions, Governor Mason wrote into the records of 
the State: 

"Common humanity forbids that we should adopt the 
rigid system of solitary confinement without labor, for 
experience has shown that the imprisonment of the 
offender without occupation destroys the mental faculties 
and soon undermines the constitution." 

"The reformation of the morals of the corrupt and 
wicked, the enlightenment of the ignorant and the em- 
ployment of the idly disposed, are cardinal objects not 
to be overlooked in your system of discipline." 

Governor Mason early accepted the situation which 
gave to Michigan the Upper Peninsula, and with rare 
foresight his first message asked for an appropriation for 
the construction of a ship canal around the falls of the 
river Sault Ste. Marie. Work was actually begun, and 
stopped only because of complications with the National 
Government; and yet, many years later, Henry Clay and 
many men of national prominence were declaiming 
against the expenditure as being upon a work beyond the 
farthest limits of human habitation. The procession of 
black funnels that now steadily pass this great waterway 
are a monument to the young man who blazed the way. 

It is not to his discredit to say that he sometimes made 
mistakes, but it is to his credit to say that such as he 
made were never the product of a vicious design. 

"Tom" Mason, as he was famiharly called, never 
arrogated to himself the possession of superior abilities. 
He was a young man of spirit and pleasing personality. 

118 



Although fate took him to a distant State, his continuing 
affection and last thought was the land of his heart 
beside the great lakes of the North; and the great State 
of Michigan has done well to place his ashes where they 
will mingle with the soil of her metropohs, amid the 
familiar scenes of his fondest hopes and aspirations. 



119 



Removal of Governor Mason's Remains 

Stevens Thomson Mason, the first Governor of Michi- 
gan, died in the city of New York, January 4, 1843, and 
the body was interred in the vault of his father-in-law, 
Thaddeus Phelps, in what was known as the Marble 
Cemetery, located in the block bounded by the Bowery 
and Second Avenue and Second and Third Streets. 

For many years the surviving sister of the deceased, 
Miss Emily V. Mason of Washington, had entertained a 
desire that the mortal remains should be removed to 
Michigan soil. This desire was conveyed to the 
authorities of the State, and the State Legislature of 
1891, by concurrent resolution (Public Acts 1891, Page 
329), made provision for the transfer of the body to the 
grounds of the State Capitol at Lansing. A change in 
the administration of State affairs, in 1893, distracted 
attention from the project and nothing resulted from the 
legislative action. 

In the winter of 1904-05, Mr. Hugo A. Gilmartin, 
while representing the Detroit Free Press in the city of 
Washington, met and became acquainted with Miss 
Emily V. Mason, then in her ninety-first year. He 
learned of the desire of the surviving relatives of Governor 
Mason that his body be removed from its resting place in 
New York, and through Mr, Gilmartin and Mr. Lawton 
T. Hemans, of Mason, who had done some work of a 
biographical nature on the life of the Boy Governor, the 
matter was brought to the attention of the Michigan 
authorities. The legislature then in session, as soon as 

From the Michigan Historical Collections, XXXV, 32. 

120 



apprised of the willingness of the relatives that the body 
should be removed, unanimously provided for the re- 
moval (Concurrent Resolution No. 1, Public Acts 1905). 

In pursuance of the authority given by the resolution, 
Hon. Fred M. Warner, Governor of the State, appointed 
the Hons. Daniel McCoy of Grand Rapids, Arthur 
Holmes of Detroit, and LaAvton T. Hemans of Mason, 
as commissioners to carry the resolution into effect. 
Repairing to New York City, they vnih the assistance of 
IVIr.Edward H. Wright, Jr., of Newark, N. J., and a grand- 
son of Governor Mason, had the body disinterred. The 
indent ity of the remains was clearly established by a 
silver plate on the casket, which bore the inscription, 
''S. T. Mason Died Jan. '4th, 1843." 

This commission, accompanied at the special invitation 
of the State of Michigan by Miss Emily V. Mason, of 
Washington, D. C, the sister; Mrs. Dorothea Wright, of 
Newark, N. J., the daughter; Edward H. Wright, Jr., the 
grandson, and Stevens T. Mason, of Baltimore, Md., a 
grand nephew, then acted as escort to the remains on 
the journey to Michigan, arriving at Detroit Sunday 
morning, June 4, 1905. 

At once, upon action being taken bj^ the State 
authorities, Hon. George P. Codd, Mayor of Detroit, 
sent a special message to the common council of that 
city calling attention to the action of the State Legis- 
lature, and the common council took appropriate action 
providing for the interment of the remains in Capitol 
Park. When the work had been executed and the grave 
excavated, it was found to be in the very foundation of 
the Territorial And first State Capitol building, a fitting 

121 



resting place for the ashes of the State's first Governor. 

The Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society extended 
an invitation to the Mason family to attend its annual 
meeting, June 6 and 7. This was accepted, and a 
memorial service was arranged for Thursday evening. 
The common council of the city of Lansing passed a 
resolution of welcome to the State's guests, and an in- 
formal reception in their honor by the legislature was 
held in the House of Representatives. 

On June 7 the Mason party, at the request of the 
common council of the city of Mason, paid a visit to the 
city named in honor of the first Governor, where they 
were entertained at the home of Mr. L. T. Hemans, and 
cordially welcomed by the leading citizens of the place. 

REINTERMENT OF GOV. STEVENS T. MASON 

The Detroit Free Press' and Detroit Tribune give the 
following report of the obsequies at Detroit, June 4, 
1905: 

Detroit, which was in a very real sense the first, last 
and greatest joy of Stevens Thomson Mason, has, after 
the lapse of more than six decades, received the mortal 
remains of the man who left her only to mourn in that 
he was separated from the scene of his trials and his 
many triumphs. 

Today the casket containing the remains of Michigan's 
first Governor lies beneath the foundation walls of the 
building which saw the greater portion of those victories — 
the old State Capitol. Both the man and the structure 
are crumbled into dust, but neither are forgotten, and 
their influence is still felt in the every-daylife of Michigan. 

122 



From the depot to the Light Guard armory, from the 
armory to the stone-Hned grave in Capitol Square park, 
was but a few steps, nevertheless the hearse that bore 
the remains of Gov. Mason through the streets that 
afford passage between these points, traversed that which 
was not only the heart but the greater portion of Detroit 
in the days which saw the beginning of things as the 
people today know them. 

"It was a remarkable thing about Gov. Mason that he 
was as popular when he died as when he was first elected 
Governor." 

These were the words of C. M. Burton as he looked 
upon yesterday's solemn pageant, and if there were many 
who had never before heard the name of Stevens Thomson 
Mason, there was also a goodly company that paid real 
reverence to the remains of the man who was the leader 
of their forefathers. 

The Michigan Central train that bore the remains of 
Gov. Mason from New York to Detroit arrived in this 
city about 9:15 yesterday morning — and, here may be 
noted a significant fact, that it was Gov. Mason who did 
more than any other one man to procure for the road 
which brought back his ashes, its first charter. 

MET BY GUARD 

The party of relatives, with its precious charge, was 
met at the depot by Company "A," of the Detroit Light 
Guard, as representatives of a body of which the dead 
man was once a member, by a platoon of police under 
command of Sergt. Jacques, and by Gov. Warner and 
his staff and Maj'or George P. Codd. 

123 



The military and the poHce acted as an immediate 
escort for the remains, six members of the "Broadway 
squad," Patrolman F. J. Clark, James J. McCarthy, 
Thomas J. Reardon, Peter McHugh, F. J. Stahl and 
Julius Kling, serving in the capacity of active pallbearers. 

It was the intent of those in charge to have the casket 
removed from the outer oak box in which the coffin was 
shipped, but it was found that handles were absent from 
the casket, and it could not, in consequence, be lifted 
from its covering. 

As the casket was taken from the train, a national flag 
was thrown over it, and this was, in its turn, half hidden 
under a wealth of ascension lilies and smilax. 

BORNE FROM STATION 

The casket was borne out of the station between long 
lines of spectators and was placed in a hearse and im- 
mediately carried out Jefferson avenue to the Light 
Guard armory. 

In the meantime, the Governor and his staff, the 
mayor and the members of the local committee had met 
the party from New York, consisting of relatives of Gov, 
Mason, and these two parties followed the remains to 
the armory, after which they breakfasted together at 
the Russell house. 

In this company were Emily V. Mason, sister of Gov. 
Mason; Mrs. Dorothea Mason Wright, of Newark, N. 
J., daughter of Gov. Mason; Ed. H. Wright and Capt. 
William Mason Wright, grandsons; William Mason 
Wright, Jr., great-grandson; Stevens T. Mason, a grand 
nephew; Hon. Daniel McCoy, of Grand Rapids; Col. 

124 



Arthur L. Holmes, of Detroit, and Lawton T. Hemans, 
of Mason, of the Gov. Mason commission; Gov. Warner, 
Mayor Codd, Miss Carrie Godfroy, of Detroit; Miss 
Kittie Barnard, of Detroit, and Aid. D. E. Heineman, 
chairman of the local committee. 

From the time of the arrival of the remains in the 
armory until they were removed to their last resting 
place, strict military guard was maintained by the mem- 
bers of the Detroit Light Guard. The casket, still 
covered with the banner and flowers, rested upon a 
catafalque of purple, which stood just below the big 
platform. Surrounding it on all sides rose a mass of 
palms, evergreens and smaller plants, while above it a 
canopy of black emphasized the idea of mourning. A 
huge national flag served as a general backgi'ound. 

Such was the scene that greeted the 2,000 or more 
persons who entered the hall between 1 and 2:20 p. m. 
At the close of that period a burst of military music of 
pecuUar solemnity announced to the people that the 
services were about to open. 

HEAD OF PROCESSION 

The procession was headed by Mayor Codd, who first 
of all escorted Miss Emily V. Mason, the aged sister of 
Gov. Mason, to the platform. In spite of her very ad- 
vanced years. Miss Mason walked with a firm step, in 
which was visible the joy of accomplishment, for it has 
been her lifelong dream to see the body of her distin- 
guished brother placed to rest \vithin the State over which 
he ruled. 

Following Miss Mason and the mayor came the other 

125 



members of the family and their friends, then Gov. 
Warner, Senator R. A, Alger, former Gov. Rich, D. M. 
Ferry, Gen. Henry R. Mizner, Maj. Arthur P. Loomis, 
Gen. McGurrin, Col. Bates and Gen. Kidd and repre- 
sentatives of the State Legislature. 

The services were opened by a short prayer from the 
lips of Rev. Dr. D. M. Cooper, pastor emeritus of the 
Memorial Presbyterian church. There was considerable 
of thanksgiving in the petition, chiefly for the good 
wrought by the man whose remains lay before the as- 
sembled company. 

mayor's opening address 

"In all those few years of life that were given to Gov. 
Mason after he left the State of Michigan he had one 
earnest desire — to return to that State which had so 
honored him, and which he had so honored," said Mayor 
Codd, in opening the service. "Fate, however, decreed 
otherwise and this is his first home-coming since leaving 
Michigan shortly after the expiration of his governor- 
ship." 

GOV. WARNER SPOKE 

At the close of this brief talk, the presiding officer of 
the occasion. Gov. Warner, told in an eloquent manner 
of the many praiseworthy qualities of former Gov. 
Mason, referring to him as one of the men to whom the 
State of Michigan owes its splendid foundation. 

"He was a man of character," said Gov. Warner. 
"He was a man possessing great mental strength, great 
virtue and unusual geniality. He stood for right and 

126 



had the courage to express his convictions, no matter 
what forces opposed him, Stevens Thomson Mason was 
a statesman of the higliest type. 

"I beUeve Michigan is doing herself a great honor in 
providing for an occasion of this sort," said his excellency. 
"For in this manner, the ancient patriotism is instilled 
into the minds of our children. 

"Our first Governor had to begin with the funda- 
mentals. There was no public school system, practically 
no railroads; things were in their beginning, and if Michi- 
gan has prospered it is because of the foundations laid 
by her first Governor. The State has done well; it has 
done its simple duty in bringing the ashes of Gov. Mason 
home." 

c. M. burton's address 

President Burton, of the State Pioneer and Historical 
Society, delivered the principal address. He told of the 
public life of Mason and what the latter has accomplished, 
saying in part: 

"We are here to pay tribute to the memory of one of 
the men who made our State; whose hand and brain 
guided our Territory through its last years, and who helped 
to lay the solid foundation of the commonwealth over 
which he was the first to preside. 

"He was the last Acting Governor of a Territory nearly 
as large as the combined areas of the thirteen colonies, 
and his power was as great as that confided to any man 
in this country. 

"His sway extended over more than 250,000 square 
miles of land, and the territory under his management 

127 



as Governor reached from the Detroit River on the east 
to the Missouri River on the west, comprising the present 
States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. 

HIS VAST TERRITORY 

''Over this vast empire he was chosen to preside as 
Acting Governor before he had reached his twenty-first 
birthday. He was elected Governor of the State at the 
age of twenty-four years. 

"In person he was of a slender, flexible and elegant 
figure, with small, aristocratic hands and feet. His face 
was full, his forehead was not high, but rather broad, 
and his brown, waving hair fell in rich clusters about his 
head. 

"His blue eyes beamed brightly and were radiant with 
sympathy and geniality, but when aroused and animated 
showed their owner was a man of will, of courage and 
decision. His nose was prominent and with his well- 
shaped chin and jaw betokened force and determination. 

"He was born, the son of John T. Mason, of Virginia, 
in 1812, but was educated in Kentucky, whither the 
elder Mason had removed while the son was still a lad. 

A politician's son 

"The father was a politician of considerable note and 
was appointed secretary of Michigan Territory in 1830, 
succeeding Judge James Witherell. The elder Mason 
removed to Detroit immediately after his appointment, 
bringing with him his family of one son, Stevens, and 
four daughters, Emily, Catherine, Laura and Theodosia. 

"Young Mason conducted the affairs of his father's 

128 



office as clerk for nearly a year and thus became familiar 
with all the duties of secretar3^ His father subsequently 
resigned to accept a private commission, and Stevens 
was appointed by President Jackson to succeed him. 

"The appointment of a minor was received with dis- 
favor, and a mass meeting protesting was held, but a 
calm, dispassionate and temperate reply made by young 
Mason served to allay the excitement to a large extent. 

WON OVER OPPOSITION 

"In the end, the unchangeable appointment of Presi- 
dent Jackson stood, for 'Old Hickory' never flinched in 
any contest, and it became the duty of the people to 
submit. 

"Almost at the time of Mason's appointment as 
secretary. Gov. Lewis Cass accepted the portfoho of 
secretary of war. Thus the boy secretary became the 
governor of the territory, pursuant to the law. 

"George B. Porter was appointed governor soon 
afterward. On the last day of the following October, 
1831, Porter left Detroit and was absent for several 
months, leaving young Mason at the helm. 

TIME OF GREAT THINGS 

"The council was occupied with much important work. 
Many bills were introduced. Among them were: The 
grant of the upper peninsula to the State of Michigan, 
the formation of the State of Michigan, the abolition of 
imprisonment for debt, incorporation of the Lake Michi- 
gan Steamship Company, the enlargement of the city of 
Detroit, location of territorial roads to Chicago and 

129 



Grand Rapids, prohibition of the sale of lottery tickets, 
establishment of State banks, establishment of common 
schools in Detroit, and the incorporation of the Detroit 
& St, Joseph Railroad Company, now the Michigan 
Central. 

"By this time the people had learned to repose as much 
confidence in 'the boy Governor' as in the Governor 
himself, 

BECAME GOVERNOR 

"In 1834 cholera visited Michigan, and among other 
prominent men who succumbed was Gov. Porter. From 
that time on, during the remainder of his life in Detroit, 
Mason was Governor. 

"The tide of immigration set in strongly in 1835 and 
the territory thrived wondrously, for wealth came with 
labor and population. Lake traffic increased, and it 
was estimated that during the summer months 1,000 
strangers landed every day on the wharves of Detroit. 

"What was commonly known as the Toledo war took 
place at about this time. It was a war without much 
bloodshed, and one that is frequently referred to with a 
smile of derision, but it resulted in greater gains to the 
State of Michigan than the wisest statesman of that day 
could foretell. 

THE GREAT EXCHANGE 

"Michigan claimed its southerly line reached the 
western extremity of Lake Erie. Such a fine would have 
included within the State limits the city of Toledo. 

"Ohio disputed Michigan's claim, and under the 

130 



leadership of Gov. Mason, Michigan resorted to arms, 
but congress finally settled the controversy; in lieu of this 
small tract, Michigan accepted the northern peninsula 
as now outlined. 

" In this exchange Mason builded better than he knew, 
for it was the laying of the foundation of the immense 
lake traffic that we now have. 

URGED SHIP CANAL 

"Mason advocated the construction of a ship canal 
around the falls of St. Mary's river and the granting of 
charters to railroads where the grant was made for public 
good. He also desired to connect the great lakes with a 
ship canal across Michigan. 

"He asked that gold and silver be used as the cir- 
culating medium for money, and that the issue of paper 
money be curtailed as much as possible. 

"In his message, to the Legislature advocating the 
establishment of a common school to be free to all children 
and supported by public revenues, and, in further ad- 
vocacy of a State university to be built on the broad 
lines that have made the institution one of the greatest 
in the world — an honor to the State and to the nation — 
he displayed his great foresight, 

REMOVAL AND DEATH 

"Governor Mason remained in office until the close of 
1839, when he went to New York City to take up the 
practice of law. A few years later he died from scarlet 
fever in that city. 

"Separated for more than half a century from the land 

131 



he loved so well, he has been returned to us today, and 
his ashes will repose on the spot where the greatest 
achievement of his life took place — the site of the first 
Capitol of a mighty Stated 

"Let there be erected above him a monument with 
suitable inscription, so that the present and future genera- 
tions may truthfully say Republics are not always un- 
grateful." 

The last stated speaker of the afternoon was Hon, 
Lawton T. Hemans, of Mason, resident of a town which 
bears the name of the "boy Governor." 

Mr. Hemans' talk was eulogistic and eloquent and he 
referred in a touching manner to a letter written by Gov. 
Mason to his sister a few weeks before his death, in which 
the writer expressed the hope that he might, in future, 
spend his summer vacations in this city. 

Then followed what was probably the most touching 
incident of the whole day. Scarcely had Mr. Hemans 
taken his seat, when -Rev. Dr. Cooper rose, and, in a 
voice trembling with emotion, asked permission to add 
his personal tribute. 

DR. cooper's reminiscence 

"I remember so well the day when I, as a lad, saw 
Gov. Mason descend from the capltol steps, clad in the 
white blanket which was the style of the day, a gold 
headed cane in his hand, and, altogether, the hand- 
somest man, with perhaps one exception, that I have 
ever looked upon. 

"Yet, just then, the impulse came upon me to insult 

132 



him and, as he passed, I shouted out a taunt with reference 
to an increase in his salary. 

"In fear of his big cane, I climbed up the capitol steps 
— I was brave enough not to run away — and the Governor 
turned and followed me. I was astonished when he 
walked up to me, put his arms around my neck and, for 
five minutes, gave me the sweetest, most fatherly talk 
imaginable. I cannot remember one word of what he 
said, but that impression has remained with me ever 
since, and I have never ceased to love the man and his 
memory." 

The speaker's eyes were filled with tears and his emotion 
was reflected in the countenance of Miss Mason when he 
stepped to her side as she sat on the platform and shook 
hands with her, expressing his satisfaction at being able 
to bear so sweet a testimony to the lovableness of her 
dead brother. 

DEPARTURE TO ARMORY 

The First Regiment band played, "Come, Ye Dis- 
consolate," the order to ground arms, followed by that to 
fall in, was given, and the "Broadway squad," con- 
sisting of the six giant policemen of the Detroit force, 
carried the remains of the First Governor to the hearse. 

Following the remains came Miss Mason, sister of 
deceased, who, under the escort of Gov. Mason's grand- 
son, William jVIason Wright, and his great-grandson, 
William Mason Wright, Jr., stepped into her carriage, 
her way being lined by officers of the First Infantry. 

Literally packed was Larned street with persons of 
every walk in life, and a deathlike stillness prevailed as 

133 



the venerable lady entered the carriage provided for her. 
The cortege, which formed on Jefferson avenue, was 
made up in the following order: 

THOSE IN COLUMN 

Mounted police, under Capt. Lemuel Guyman; police 
on foot from the First precinct, commanded by Capt. 
John T. Spillane; Chief Marshal George W. Fowle and 
staff; Gen. W. S. Green, chief of staff, and aides; John P. 
Kirk, of Ypsilanti, colonel of the First Infantry, and 
staff; First Regiment band; First Infantry; Michigan 
State Naval Brigade; the hearse; family in carriages; 
Gov. Fred M. Warnei; and staff, accompanied by United 
States Senator Russell A. Alger and Mayor George P. 
Codd; State commissioners; committees of the House of 
Representatives; members of the common council and 
the board of estimates; members of the board of education. 

The line of march was from Jefferson to Woodward 
avenue; up Woodward to Michigan avenue; on Michigan 
to Rowland street; on Rowland to Capitol Square. 

Along the line of march thousands of persons covered 
the sidewalks, and a remarkable crowd it was. Every- 
body seemed to appreciate the solemnity of the occasion, 
for hardly the sound of a voice was heard as the pro- 
cession marched slowly to the place of interment, taking 
twenty minutes to go that short distance. 

CITY HALL BELL TOLLED 

Meanwhile the bell on the city hall was tolled at in- 
tervals of one minute. 

The procession presented an inspiring sight as it 

134 



marched up Woodward avenue and past the city hall, 
headed by the mounted police. No cavalry that ever 
paraded the streets of Detroit presented a grander sight 
than did this handful of mounted policemen, with their 
well-trained and magnificent looking bays, led by Capt. 
Guyman on a jet black animal. Only the solemnity of 
the occasion kept the immense crowds from breaking 
out into applause. 

As it was, the people simply looked on in admiration 
of the well-drilled men and their well-trained horses. 

"MICHIGAN, MY MICHIGAN" 

Upon the arrival of the remains at Capitol Square, the 
police on guard over the last resting place of the first 
Governor, presented arms, and the officers of the First 
Infantry lined up on either side of the path. Following 
the casket came the immediate relatives, the band mean- 
time playing, "Michigan, My Michigan." 

The venerable Miss Mason, with tears in her eyes, led 
the httle great-grandson of the first Governor to a seat 
under the pavilion. The other relatives followed, and 
then came the remainder of the distinguished party in- 
cluding Gov. Warner, Mayor Codd, Hon. John T. Rich, 
Hon. Lawton T. Hemans and many others. 

Simple were the services at the grave. As the body 
was slowly lowered into the earth. Rev. D. M. Cooper 
pronounced the benediction, and the band played " Nearer, 
My God, to Thee." All this time the color-bearers held 
the flags of the Union and the State above the tomb — 
the silent flag salute. 

Miss Mason and her little great grand-nephew cast 

135 



flowers upon the casket as it slowly sank out of sight, the 
former retaining one rose from the bouquet, which she 
held back as a cherished souvenir of a moment which 
was, probably, the proudest of her life. 

THREE VOLLEYS AND "tAPS" 

Then followed the parting salute to the dead from the 
firing party, the bugle call, ''taps," and the ceremony 
was over. 

Capitol Square park was filled from one end to the 
other, and as the distinguished visitors moved away there 
was a general rush from all sides by curious persons who 
wanted to look down into the tomb. It was with con- 
siderable difficulty that the police kept them back, thus 
preventing, perhaps, serious accidents. 

But still the crowd remained and it was fully three- 
quarters of an hour before Capitol Square resumed its 
normal conditions. 

As to the number of persons who turned out to honor 
the memory of Gov. Mason, suffice it to say that the street 
cars were taxed tp their capacity and emptied their 
human freight by the carloads into Cadillac Square for 
two hours before the funeral cortege passed. 

SOME OF THOSE IN PROCESSION 

Following is a list of some of the men in official capacity 
who marched in the funeral procession: Hon. Fred M. 
Warner, Governor of the State; Hon. George P. Codd, 
mayor of Detroit; ex-Gov. John T. Rich, Hon. Daniel 
McCoy of Grand Rapids; Col. Arthur L.- Holmes and 
Hon. Lawton T. Hemans, of Mason, members of the 

136 



Gov. Mason State commission; Hon. Charles Smith, Hon. 
Orlando C. Moflfatt and Hon. John D. McKay, com- 
mittee of the State Senate; Hon. James S. Monroe, Hon. 
Junius E. Beal, Hon. Archibald F. Bunting, Hon. Martin 
Hanlon and Hon. David Stockdale, committee of the 
House of Representatives; Aid. David E. Heineman, 
Max C. Koch, George Ellis, Richard M. Watson and 
Louis E. Tossy, committee of the Detroit common 
council. 



137 



Douglass Houghton 

We are assembled here today to do honor to the memory 
of a man who during his short earthly career was an ex- 
ceptionally forceful influence for the progress and de- 
velopment of our commonwealth. In the erection of a 
monument to his memory we are performing a service to 
fhe generation of the present and to those who may 
succeed us in generations yet to come; for states and 
people are great only as they look with confidence to the 
future and with inspiration drawn from the lives and 
history of the past. 

The name of Douglass Houghton will ever remain 
inseparably connected with the development of this great 
region of upper Michigan, for here in a true sense he was 
a pathfinder and a pioneer, intelhgently blazing the 
pathway and recording accurate observations on the 
physical characteristics of the countrj^ for the guidance 
of those who should come after him. Indeed, there is 
justification for the belief that he was a potent influence 
in the train of events which brought this great northern 
country within the territorial limits of our beloved 
Michigan. 

Douglass Houghton was born at Troy, New York, 
September 21, 1809, the fourth child in a family of seven 
born to the parents, Jacob Houghton and Mary Douglass 
Houghton. The training and environment of Douglass 
Houghton were such as admirably to fit him for the 
great work which he ultimately accomplished. The 
father, Jacob Houghton, was a lawyer of more than 

Address at the dedication of the Douglass Houghton monument at Eagle 
River, October 3, 1914. 

138 



average culture, while through the mother he inherited 
the sturdy blood of the New England revolutionary 
period. While Rochester was still a village on the 
western frontier of the Empire State, Jacob Houghton 
in 1812 immigrated to Fredonia, to become the willing 
partaker of the hardships and privations of pioneer life. 
Young Houghton thus had open to him from infancy 
the advantages of a cultured home where good books 
and refining influences abounded, while courage and love 
of adventure were ever stimulated by intimate contact 
with a life in which the need of such elements is daily 
reqXiired. 

In his tender years, Douglass Houghton was frail in 
body and diminutive in size; but coupled with these 
characteristics, as not infrequently happens, was promise 
of unusual precocity and brilliancy of mind. Advancing 
years brought him bodily vigor, but he always was small 
in stature. 

The years that have intervened since his death, 
naturally obscure the incidents of his boyhood career, 
but from the past there still come the stories that show 
him to have been a lad keenly alive to all of the wonders 
and mysteries that surrounded him in the physical world, 
and that marked him as the scientist of unusual attain- 
ments which he ultimately became. He was a chemist 
before he knew the chemical elements; a botanist while 
his only textbook was the wealth of the forests; and a 
geologist with the rocks and cliffs his only teacher. Before 
he had arrived at his sixteenth year, in company with a 
neighboring lad he had perfected a mill for the manu- 
facture of a coarse quality of gunpowder. It was here, 

139 



while engaged in the work of compounding materials, 
that he was severely injured by an explosion, the effect 
of the burns which he received being such as to place his 
life in jeopardy and to mark him with permanent facial 
disfigurement. A lad so eager for all the learning which 
the great field of nature opened about him, was not long 
in completing the courses of study afforded by the schools 
and academies that were close at hand. His strong bent 
for the natural sciences caused his father to place him as 
a student in the Van Renssalaer school in the city of Troy, 
at that time one of the leading scientific schools of the 
country. From this institution he graduated in 1828, 
and when not twenty years of age he had already been 
admitted to the practice of medicine by the medical 
society of Chautauqua County. 

The Detroit of 1830, needless to say, was far different 
from the Detroit of today. At the earlier period, the 
closing of navigation isolated the metropolis from the 
outside world and for a period of four or five months 
threw the inhabitants upon their own resources for the 
means of culture and entertainment. Among the in- 
stitutions of the place which contributed to both of these 
purposes, were the lecture courses which annually were 
given under the patronage of General Cass, Major Biddle, 
Henry Schoolcraft and others. It was these gentlemen 
who, in 1830, applied to Professor Eaton of the Van 
Renssalaer school to recommend a gentleman to give a 
course of public lectures on the subjects of chemistry, 
botany and geology at Detroit during the ensuing winter. 
Hon. Lucius Lyon, later the Territorial Delegate of 
Michigan at Washington, was commissioned by his 

140 



Detroit friends to call at the Van Renssalaer institution 
and personally arrange for the emploj^ment of the gentle- 
man to be selected for the position. Lucius Lyon was 
himself a young man, being about thirty years of age at 
the time; but he was much surprised when he was 
presented to a youth, both in appearance and years as 
the candidate thought equal to the instruction of men of 
mature culture on abstruse scientific subjects. But Lyon 
was soon convinced that the young scientist would be 
equal to such a mission, and soon concluded the arrange- 
ments that brought young Houghton to Detroit, from 
which time his life was to be intimately identified with 
the development of the Territory and subsequent State. 
Time will not suffice to say more of the course of lectures 
in which Douglass Houghton delighted the people of 
Detroit, other than that they formed the basis of an 
enduring regard in which he was held by the people of 
that city. That Lucius Lyon and Douglass Houghton 
were thus thrown together was a fortunate incident for 
Michigan, as will be later seen — for it was the inception 
of a bond of friendship and confidence between two men 
who had it in their power to do much for the aspiring 
commonwealth. 

Only a few months following the advent of young 
Houghton in Detroit, Henry R. Schoolcraft then on the 
threshold of his distinguished career, was organizing the 
expedition which he later conducted for the exploration 
of the source of the Mississippi River. In his search for 
a physician and trained scientist to accompany the ex- 
pedition, his choice was almost confined to Douglass 
Houghton, to whom he proffered the position. Houghton 

141 



gladly accepted the position so fully in line with his 
talents and inclinations. The expedition proceeded by 
way of the upper Lakes, and thus early did the great 
upper Peninsula pass under the eye of a trained scientific 
observer, who later from intimate knowledge was able to 
give to at least those connected with the official life of 
the Territory a knowledge of the great northern country, 
and a glimpse in prophesy of what it might ultimately 
become. 

Houghton returned to Detroit in 1831 to take up the 
practice of the medical profession, which he continued" 
until 1836. His practice is said to have been the most 
extensive and lucrative enjoyed by any physician in 
Detroit. The people of Detroit, who had theretofore 
admired Houghton's youthful genius and ability, now 
added to it the warmth of intimate affection. Through 
the cholera outbreak in 1834 no character in the city of 
Detroit stands out with more courage, loyalty and de- 
votion. Through the dreary days of that fatal summer, 
Douglass Houghton was one of a noble band who through 
their professional and humane ministrations earned the 
gratitude of the people of that community. 

The summer of 1835 is eventful in the history of Michi- 
gan. This is not the time or place to recount the in- 
€idents leading up to and growing out of the bloodless 
conflict of the " Toledo War," further than to say that as 
compensation for the enforced relinquishment of the 
seven mile strip upon her southern border, the State's 
northern boundary was enlarged to include the Upper 
Peninsula. Historians have named several individuals 
as being entitled to the honor of compensating Michigan 

142 



territorially for the loss of Toledo, but the honor un- 
questionably belongs to Lucius Lyon, who had been 
chosen to the LTnited States senate in anticipation of 
Michigan's early admission to the federal union. 

During the winter of 1835 and '36, Lucius Lyon, in 
company with John Norvell and Isaac Crary, the other 
two members of the Michigan delegation, were in Wash- 
ington anxious to assume their duties while Congress 
delayed the State's admission. A letter from Senator 
Lyon, under date of Feb. 18, 1830, discloses that the 
senator already saw the inevitable and was preparing to 
obtain such compensation as could be acquired. With 
facetious resignation, he writes: "The corruption and 
management of the delegation in Congress from Ohio and 
Indiana is about to deprive Michigan of the country 
claimed by the former States; and to compensate us in 
some measure, the committee will probably give us a 
strip of country along the south shore of Lake Superior, 
where w^e can raise our own Indians in all time to come 
and suppty ourselves now and then with a little bear 
meat for delicacy." 

That the senator had knowledge that the country to 
be acquired had far more value than as a hospitable 
region for bears and Indians, is evidenced by the fact that 
three days later, in a letter to Colonel Andrew Mack of 
Detroit, he urged the desirability of the acquisition of 
the upper country upon other considerations. "My own 
opinion is" said he, "that within twenty years the ad- 
dition here proposed will be valued by Michigan at 
more than forty millions of dollars, and that even after 
ten years the State would not think of selling it for that 

143 



sum. When compelled by the strong arm of power 
most unjustly to give up and yield to the gigantic State 
of Ohio a part of our territory on the south, I can con- 
ceive no good reason why, under the circumstances, we 
should not receive all Congress are willing to give us 
elsewhere. If we lose on the south and gain nothing on 
the north or west, we shall be poor indeed." 

Years later in a written communication, Senator Lyon 
says: "Having, when in Congress, when the limits of 
Michigan were about to be unjustly curtailed on the 
south, j5rst proposed and taken an active part in pro- 
curing the extension of our boundary to the northwest 
so as to embrace a large tract of country on the south 
side of Lake Superior, a principal object of my inquiry 
was of course to ascertain the character and value of the 
country thus added to our State. The result of these 
inquiries were, I am able to say, more favorable than I 
had ever anticipated." The remaining portion of the 
letter might even now be used in the prospectus of the 
development bureau of the so-called clover lands. Said 
he: "That portion of our State lying beyond the Straits 
of Michilimackinac, and bounded on the north, by Lake 
Superior, contains probably about 25,000 square miles, 
or about one-third more land than is contained in the 
States of New Hampshire and Vermont together, and it 
is capable of sustaining and will sustain at some future 
time as great if not greater population to the square mile 
than either of those States. Its soil is good; better than 
that of New England States generally, and the country 
is well adapted to the production of wheat, rye, barley, 
oats, potatoes, wool and flax, while the fisheries in the 

144 



lakes on either side of it, and the rich mines of copper 
and iron ore will afford sources of profitable employment 
to thousands of persons who will need those products, 
so that the farmer there will always have the advantage 
of a good market at his own door. The land is well 
wooded with sugar tree, beech, ash, lynn and black 
cherry, and in some places forests of pine. The country 
is rolling and well watered. It contains but little swamp, 
and the proportion of waste land in it is probably less 
than in the Lower Peninsula, though the proportion of 
waste land here is much less than is generally supposed. 
The climate of the country is said to be quite as mild- as 
that of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont 
and the northern part of New York, the severity of the 
winter season being moderated by the waters of Lakes 
Superior and Michigan, which are so deep that they 
never freeze except at and near the shore." 

That the greater part, if not all of this information, 
still so accurate in its general character, was received 
from Douglass Houghton there is no doubt, for no in- 
dividual possessed a larger and more discriminating 
knowledge of the Territory, and bore to Lucius Lyon a 
more intimate friendship than Douglass Houghton. 

Governor Stevens T. Mason was even a year the 
junior of Douglass Houghton, and his warm personal 
friend and coadjutor. Governor Mason, the enthusiastic 
friend of every measure which the State undertook for 
the promotion of education and institutions of learning, 
lost no time in tendering the position of State geologist 
to Doctor Houghton when legislation had created that 
department of State activity. A somewhat superficial 

145 



survey of the State was made vmcler a small appropriation 
of 1837, while a more comprehensive plan was con- 
templated by the action of the legislature of 1838. 
Scientists have generally regarded the plan perfected by 
Doctor Houghton for the geological survey of Michigan 
as one that might well be considered as a model. The 
plan comprehended four departments, namely: Geology 
and mineralogy proper; zoology, botany and topography; 
each having its official head and assistants, all to work 
under the general supervision of the State geologist. It 
was the plan of Doctor Houghton to have the work of 
all departments prosecuted simultaneously. Those in 
charge of the topography department were to furnish 
skeleton plats, into which the other departments were to 
work the peculiar features coming under their observation, 
with more than ordinary accuracy. 

The State was not able to benefit to the full extent of 
the creative genius of the State geologist because of the 
unfortunate financial calamities which came with ex- 
.ceptional severity upon the j'outhful commonwealth, 
but the failure of the State in no manner detracts from 
the genius of the scientist who pointed the way. 

The season of 1840 was spent by Doctor Houghton 
and his assistants in exploration and geographical re- 
searches on the south coast of Lake Superior, then an 
unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by bears and Indians 
to which Senator Lyon had called attention. The 
report made by Doctor Houghton to the legislature the 
following February disclosed that the great sources of 
mineral and other wealth had not escaped his observation, 

146 



although their existence was stated with commendable 
caution and modesty of detail. 

Doctor Houghton's report, published in 1841, was the 
last one made by him to the legislature of the State. 
It treats of the geology of the Upper Peninsula, and 
Professor Winchell, so long eminent in the field of science, 
speaks of it as a masterly discussion of the mineral veins 
of the trap, conglomerate and other rocks, and further 
says, "It furnished the world with the first definite in- 
formation relative to the occurrence of native copper in 
place on Lake Superior, and the mining interest now 
rapidly growing up in that region has been to a great 
extent created by the attention directed to it by the 
report of my late predecessor." 

Subsequent to this time and during the life of Doctor 
Houghton, the meagre resources of the State made 
further prosecution of the geographical survey inexpedient, 
but the State's poverty did not stop his activities in 
scientific discovery. Even before this time, the keen 
observation of Doctor Houghton had discovered the 
indications of possible saline deposits within the State, 
and by subsequent legislative authorization he con- 
ducted borings in the vicinity of Grand Rapids and on 
the Tittabawassee, near the present city of Midland, 
later to become one of the points of extensive salt pro- 
duction. Inmiediate success did not crown his efforts. 
The State's resources were limited; supplies and equip- 
ment required transportation through miles of trackless 
forest, but he pointed the way, and as one writer has 
said, "demonstrated that the work was one of no slight 

magnitude." 

147 



In 1842 Doctor Houghton was elected to the position 
of mayor of the city of Detroit, and at about the same 
time served as president of one of the leading financial 
institutions of that city. He had been made professor 
of chemistry, mineralogy and geology in the newly 
created university of the State, and on occasions de- 
livered lectures on these subjects, while he perfected 
plans for still further prosecution of geological researches 
in the mineral regions of Michigan. 

It did not require his tragic death to impress the 
people of Michigan with appreciation of his individual 
worth, and the value of his service to his State. On the 
19th of March, 1845, the county of Houghton was created 
by act of the Michigan Legislature and named in his 
honor. Counties in liberal number have been named 
for men eminent in the political life of the State, l:)ut 
Douglass Houghton shares with Henry Schoolcraft the 
unique distinction of being one of the two men thus 
honored from the field of applied science. 

Douglass Houghton at the time of his death had barely 
completed the thirty-sixth year of his life, but years of 
exceeding value to his State. Today his name is per- 
petuated in the name of one of the State's greatest 
counties; in one of its townships; in one of its most charm- 
ing cities, and in the largest inland lake within its borders. 
His portrait adorns the walls of the legislative chamber 
of the State capitol, and a cenotaph tablet to his memory 
can be read upon the campus of the great university at 
Ann Arbor. It is to small purpose that we do further 
honor to his memory unless we learn and give vitality 
to the principles that were the active elements of his 

148 



life and achievements. Could we see Douglass Houghton 
here today, we would see a man small in stature, of less 
than five feet six inches in height; a man of modest and 
affable demeanor; a man who found pleasure in poetry 
and in the music of the flute, upon which he was an 
accomplished player; a man who combined with these 
lighter accomplishments the sterner qualities of inde- 
fatigable industry, thirst for knowledge, and moral and 
physical courage. These qualities were the basis of his 
achievements, which in themselves emphasize that into 
the keeping of most men has been given the elements 
that make for lives individually successful and helpful 
to humanity. 

The demand of the example of the life of Douglass 
Houghton is not to be satisfied by the answer from any 
man, that he wrought in a time of exceptional opportunity 
and promise. It is true that Michigan no longer has a 
frontier; no longer is it necessary for the pioneer to clear 
the way through fen and forests; but Michigan from a 
thousand fields of human effort beckons as never before 
to the men and women who have the wisdom to plan, 
the courage to dare, and the industry to do. There is 
inspiration in the life of a Houghton as there is in the 
life of a Lincoln, for both come as messages of cheer and 
assurance that the conmion abilities and the common 
virtues of life make alike for the success of individuals 
and the glorj^ of states. 



149 



Private Ownership and Governmental Con- 
trol OF Public Utilities 

Ladies and Gentlemen: Dean Cooley, with a sincere 
purpose of compliment, has told you that I was once the 
candidate of the Democratic party for Governor. That 
you may draw no false conclusions, perhaps I should tell 
you the whole truth, — that I have been a candidate 
twice; that running for Governor has become somewhat 
of a habit with me. Once upon a time in my first cam- 
paign, at the conclusion of an address, a man came up 
to the platform and put up a hand that indicated its 
possessor was familiar with physical toil, and said, "Mr. 
Hemans, I want to shake your hand, and tell you that you 
will at least get every Democratic vote in my township. 
I am the only gol darned Democrat there." So you see, 
running for Governor on the Democratic ticket in Michi- 
gan may indicate no quality greater than courage in the 
candidate. 

It is for me an exceptional pleasure to view so large 
a body of young men and women on the threshold of 
careers in engineering, for while most of us no doubt are 
looking forward to the financial and material rewards 
that are to come from professional effort, there is another 
side which to my mind is of equal if not greater import 
both to you as individuals and to society as a whole. 

It is a matter of frequent comment that this is an age 
of wonderful development, but in no field is it more true 
than in the field of the so-called public utility. Our 
great railway systems, illuminating gas from destructive 

Address to the Freshman engineering class at the University of Michigan 
in 1914. 

150 



distillation, water under pressure, light and heat and 
power from electric energy, the telephone and the tele- 
graph, are "the product of the inventive genius of little 
more than a life time. The public utility has almost 
transformed our civilization, and its management has 
become one of the greatest of our social and economic 
problems. 

With the introduction of the first utilities, nothing 
was" more natural than that they should have been left 
to the individual creation and control of the interests 
which promoted them; but society very soon learned, 
that the business of the utility, whether it was in the 
furnishing of transportation, in the transmission of in- 
telligence, or in the furnishing of water, light, heat and 
power, had characteristics which made it fundamentally 
different from the ordinary business which individuals 
had prosecuted for all the centuries of the past. In the 
business of the ordinary merchant there is an appeal to a 
variety of tastes and the financial ability of the purchaser, 
which invites competition. This is a characteristic 
wholly lacking in the product of the public utility. The 
very nature of the service which public utilities render, 
removes them from the field w^here efficiency and economic 
considerations are promoted by competition. In other 
words, public utilities are natural monopolies. Because 
they are monopolies serving the public, they cannot 
safely be intrusted to private control. We have, then, 
the two alternatives: governmental or political owner- 
ship and control, or private ownership and governmental 
supervision and control. The issue between these two 
systems is of tremendous importance. 

151 



The Michigan Railroad Commission, as you know, 
passes upon the stock and bond issues of all public ser- 
vice corporations. During the past four years, for the 
public utilities of the State, and for the railways that 
cross its borders, it has authorized stocks and bonds to 
the amount of between six and seven hundred millions. 
This enormous sum is needed simply to keep pace with 
the growth of our commonwealth. Shall the institutions 
which expend these vast sums become a part of our 
political machinery, or shall they be left as a part of the 
industrial activities of society, with unrestricted power 
in government to investigate, regulate and control? 

It seems to me that before governmental ownership 
and control can be effectively urged, it must be demon- 
strated that political activities are superior to those 
found in the business world. They should show that 
our cities are run more efficiently and economically than 
our vast industrial institutions, which is notoriously not 
the case. "We all know that the power successfully to 
manage and administer, is superior to the power to 
create. There are a thousand men who have the power 
to conceive an enterprise where there is one that has the 
ability to conduct it to successful issue. We cannot 
have in the lines of public utility the impetus of in- 
dividual desire to achieve, if as soon as the utility is 
created it is to become a function of government; and 
we have not yet come to the end of our public utility 
creations. Our government was founded on the idea 
of developing the individuality of each citizen, providing 
the greatest scope for the exercise of his abilities and 
powers. All of these considerations point to private 

152 



ownership and governmental control as the solution of 
the great problem of the public utility. It gives free 
exercise to the individual initiative. It restricts op- 
portunity only by the ability of him who strives. It 
gives the public the benefit of the superior thrift, energy 
and capacity of individual business, while it preserves 
to the pubUc the power to regulate, restrict and supervise, 
necessary to protect the public interest. 

But efficient supervision and control necessitates 
thorough and exact knowledge, and it is here that society 
looks to the men of the profession upon which you have 
entered. That the regulating body may properly pre- 
scribe the rate of return and the quality of service, it 
must have extensive knowledge, as to original cost, as 
to depreciation, and as to current maintenance, as well 
as to many other elements that enter into a proper ad- 
justment of the rate. Many of these elements are still 
unknown, with anything like definiteness, even by the 
men who promote the enterprise. 

So large a body of young men and women as I see here 
before me must be an important factor in the solving of 
the problems presented, and it is here that your greatest 
work is to be accomplished. You will go forth from here 
to achieve the material and financial successes that are 
always an important consideration, but the greater 
success will be in the service which you will contribute 
to society and to government through high, lofty and 
disinterested effort in the solution of one of the greatest 
problems of this State and Nation. With these things 
in mind, I cannot do otherwise than congratulate you 
upon the auspicious field that lies before j'ou. 

153 



A Monument of Progress 

Mr. President and Fellow Citizens : The occasion that 
has brought together this body of our people is one 
worthy of the interest and enthusiasm we are giving to 
its celebration. It is the vaunting of no vain-glorious 
pride to say of the county of Ingham that it has become 
great in all the essential elements of modern progress, 
and that it represents in its citizenship the ingrained 
traits of the best traditions of this Republic. 

In the dedication of a structure such as this, in reality 
a temple of justice, a building set apart to civic virtue, 
surely we should find in reverent thankful hearts the 
spirit that has brought us hither to become participators 
in an event calculated to stimulate the elements that 
have made for past successes, and that in themselves are 
our best guaranty of the perpetuity of free institutions. 

Two years ago, on the 5th day of this present month, 
we met, and with imposing ceremonies, laid the corner 
stone of this building. It was a day prophetic of the 
beautiful structure we now behold, for even then we knew 
it was to be a monument marking the progress of our 
people, a progress that has been unfolding and expanding 
since the day when the first hardy pioneer reared his 
rude cabin within our borders. There is pleasure and 
satisfaction in the completion of a good work, but thrice 
pleasurable and satisfying is the completion of a work 
that combines utility with the elements of symmetry and 
architectural beauty, and which in its completeness 
bespeaks a lesson and a meaning. Within these walls 

Address at the dedication of the Ingham County court house at Mason, 
1904. 

154 



the skill of the artisan may be visible for ages to come; 
but if the children of the future shall see in it nothing 
more than spacious lialls and an imposing exterior, then 
shall more than half its cost have been wasted. This 
edifice is more than rooms and apartments where the 
treasured records of the people find safe deposit and 
public servants do official bidding. It is more than 
trusses of iron, beams of wood, and carven stone, it is a 
monument to the genius of our people, representative of 
their past, their progress, their patriotism and their 
intelligence. 

It is told of President Harper of Chicago University, 
that once, as he contemplated the magnificent buildings 
of that institution, perfect in appointments and pleasing 
in design, he said, "All that Chicago University now 
needs is a past." To the citizen of Ingham County who 
is filled with love for its people and its fertile soil, this 
structure will lack no such endearing association, for, 
though new in point of time, it is none the less indicative 
of all that has gone before. The county of Ingham has 
been a partaker in no small degree in the progress and 
development which form the chief marvel of the time. 
More wonderful than our ultimate achievement is the 
fact that it is the achievement of scarce a life time, 
equalling if not surpassing in its total accomplishment 
the slow growth of former centuries. 

It was not until the fall and winter of 1825 and 1826 
that John Mullett, Henry Parke and others tore their 
way through tangled swamps and primal woods to set 
the governmental limits of our townships; a section 
which was then a remote quarter in the trackless wild 

155 



within the then county of Wayne. By an act of the 
Legislative Council of Michigan Territory bearing date 
the 29th of October, 1829, the sixteen townships of the 
county were given territorial entity as the county of 
Ingham. 

If an illustrious name has power to stimulate those 
who live under it to emulate the virtues of its giver, then 
it was rare fortune which gave us the name we honor in 
perpetuating. Samuel D. Ingham, of Bucks County, 
Pennsylvania, had reached his fiftieth year when his 
name was given to our county. ■ He was a man of broad 
culture self-acquired, the heir to a name already honored 
in his State. On his own merit he had already won 
distinction in his native State and as a member for many 
terms in the federal Congress his commanding abilities 
had received national recognition; in the year of the 
county's formation he had entered to serve with dis- 
tinction in the Cabinet of Andrew Jackson as Secretary 
of the Treasury. To the end of a long life, which did 
not close until the year 1860, he exemplified to a high 
degree those traits of character which have ever made 
for the honor of individuals and the greatness of states. 

A few days after the county's creation, and on the 4th 
day of November, 1829, it and the newly formed county 
of Jackson were made to form a part of the township of 
Dexter, and attached to the county of Washtenaw for 
judicial purposes. Later its territory was attached to 
the county of Jackson, and not until June 1838 did it 
become an organized county, with the rights and privileges 
of the then other twenty-eight counties of the State. 
At this time less than nine hundred souls had found homes 

156 



within our borders, but the hardy pioneers had left behind 
the blazed trail over which increasing numbers were soon 
to follow. With alacrity the widely scattered settlers 
organized the congressional townships to participate as 
such in the new political rights thus bestowed. Although 
but seven townships had been organized at the election 
of 1838, eleven were in existence by March 1839. Of 
the eleven, Alaiedon continued until some years later to 
comprise the present four northwest townships, while 
Phelpstown comprised the present townships of Williams- 
ton, and Locke, and Briltus, embracing the present 
townships of Wheatfield and Leroy. Although at the 
date of the organization of the county. Mason had had 
an existence of but three months as a platted town, still 
its few inhabitants, alive to the injunction of the Ordi- 
nance of 1787, that "the means of education should 
forever be encouraged," had made the erection of a 
schoolhouse their first duty after providing shelter for 
themselves. It was to this schoolhouse, through weary 
miles of trackless forest, astride his faithful steed, with 
saddle bags filled with the legal lore his head did not 
contain, that on the 12th day of November, 1839, came 
the Hon. William A. Fletcher, Chief Justice of the Su- 
preme Court of the State, and then and there organized 
the judiciary of Ingham; a task in which he was assisted 
by Amos E. Steel of Onondaga, father of the present 
Sheriff of the county, and William Child as Associate 
Judges, while Peter Lowe, still remembered by the most 
of us, officiated as clerk. 

The bar of Ingham County may well honor itself by 
honoring the name of William A. Fletcher. He brought 

157 



to the trials and hardships of a frontier hfe the culture 
and training of an able jurist. At one time his circuit 
comprised the whole of Michigan outside of the then 
limits of the county of Wayne. He rendered signal 
service to the Territory and the State as Chief Justice 
and Attorney General, and lived a blameless life, a fit 
example to every man who would prosecute his high 
calling in the court he organized. 

When we recall that the pioneer schoolhouse still 
stands and that of those who then lived within the county 
limits and were then of sufficient age to know something 
of the interest the event occasioned some have been 
spared to join in the pleasures of this day, we may justly 
feel that the event of 1839 was essentially modern. Yet 
from that time some years were destined to elapse before 
the township of Lansing was even organized or the 
Indian disturbed in his possession at the junction of the 
Cedar and the Grand. 

Although the county seat had in the beginning been 
located and established at a blazed tree at the quarter- 
post between sections one and twelve in what is now the 
township of Vevay some three miles east of this city, 
the business of the county had always been transacted 
at Mason, because its buildings were those nearest to the 
established seat of justice. To this place it was 
eventually removed, by legislative enactment, on the 
sixth day of March in the year 1840. The first location 
was upon lands entered by Charles Thayer of Washtenaw, 
who at once upon the establishment of the seat of justice 
financed the future prospects of his holding by erecting 
a windowless log structiu'c and creating on paper the 

158 



ephemeral City of Ingham, which showed school sites, 
public parks and broad avenues; while it was not destined 
to become the actual county seat, yet if we are to believe 
the recitals in early conveyances it was not a losing 
venture, for several undivided interests were sold in 
Chicago and other places for considerations aggregating 
some seventy-five thousand dollars. Surely the lamb 
and the promoter were abroad in the land back in the 
days when the honest pioneer found spiritual consolation 
within the leafy aisles of God's first temples. 

At the first general election, 260 voters exercised their 
franchise, and the county could then boast a full $700,000 
of assessable values. A county so pretentious could not 
be expected long to be satisfied with the cramped ac- 
commodations of an 18 by 24 schoolhouse, especially when 
it was required to do duty as a meeting-place for the 
board of supervisors, local meeting-house on Sundays^ 
and general gathering place for all other local as well as 
county events. The records disclose that in the year 
1840 the County Clerk and Register of Deeds were 
housed afan outlay of $325, and that at the October 
session of 1842 by resolution duly adopted, each super- 
visor was made a committee to sound his constituency 
on the proposition of erecting a new county building. 
The agitation bore fruit the follo^ving year in the erection 
of the first county building, the building committee being 
authorized to contract for a building that should be 
twenty-eight by thirty-four feet, with eighteen foot 
posts, and that should not cost to exceed the sum of 
S800, with the proviso that if so large a building could 
not be obtained for the sum stated, that they advertise 

159 



for bids for as large a building as could be built for the 
money. The committee had the good fortune to meet 
the requirements of the Board and in due season it stood , 
completed, south and across the street from this edifice. 
Six hundred dollars of the contract price was paid in 
State bonds and two hundred dollars in the form of a 
conveyance of some village lots that had theretofore 
come into the possession of the county. 

It was an imposing structure, surrounded by the halo 
of a yellow fence, to which James Turner, Hiram H. 
Smith and John Coatsworth did not put the finishing 
touches until the board of supervisors had exhausted 
upon it much serious discussion and earnest effort. 
When completed, the building was accepted by the narrow 
margin of 8 to 7. Whether the Board split on the color 
of the fence, or on the question of columns for the front 
of the building as proposed by Supervisor Skadan, is a 
question that may never be settled. For twelve years 
this building served the needs of the county for the 
purposes for which it had been constructed. 
' Not until 1848 had the county found need of that 
adjunct of civilization known as a county jail. In this 
year the first one was constructed. Whether there was 
any connection between this fact and the location of the 
State capital within the county the year previous, is 
perhaps a question too delicate to be discussed. 

It was at the April election of 1856 that the voters of 
Ingham County voted the appropriation for the building 
of what is familiarly known to us all as "The Old Court 
House," endeared to most of the members of the Ingham 
bar by many a tender memory and happy association. 

160 



It was in the old frame court house that John W. Long- 
year, Orlando M. Barnes and others began their careers 
of honor and distinction. While the date of its erection 
is comparatively recent, still in that day we could claim 
no more than fifteen thousand of population and less 
than three millions in assessed valuation, and of the 
funds required for the building of this twelve thousand 
dollar structure the borrowed portion was obtainable 
only in New York, where a three-thousand-dollar ten per 
cent bond was of necessity exchanged for twenty-eight 
hundred dollars in cash. After the negotiation of the 
loan the Board of Supervisors, as though there might 
still be some question as to the risk of the loaner, passed 
a resolution to the effect that the county would pay both 
principal and interest when due. 

The Old Building saw the making of Ingham County. 
For forty-two years it was the center to which our people 
came in their civic relations; here people from the more 
distant townships met, matured and kept alive those 
warm friendships that were a marked characteristic of 
the older days; within it young men came to the bar, and 
by patient judges were enabled to acquire the experience 
and develop abilities, which in some instances have 
given to Ingham County names high in the service of 
the State and nation. Time considered, the Old Court 
House stood to witness the most far-reaching social and 
industrial changes that have taken place in the history 
of the world. It witnessed the inception and growth 
within county limits of great State institutions bestowing 
the blessings of a hberal and Christian civilization upon 
the unfortunate. It saw the great State Agricultural 

161 



College, and schools less pretentious, come into existence 
and under a wise State policy enaliled to extend their 
influence to the uttermost parts of the earth. Its brief 
life went back to the days when Lansing, the capital of 
the State, was little more than a rude clearing, its popula- 
tion not above the limits of a country village reached 
only by the stage-coach lines that crossed its bounds 
from the south and east. It has lived to see it a beautiful 
city filled with every requirement made necessary by 
modern life, its thousands of population comfortably 
housed and sustained by the multiplicity of its industries, 
and an honor to the State whose capital it has proven 
worthy to be. The old building lived to l)e the silent 
witness of the growth and development of thriving cities 
and villages within the county limits. It saw the forests 
melt before the settler's axe, to be replaced in season by 
blossoming orchards and fields of golden grain, the 
landscape resplendent with its mantle of emerald, studded 
with flocks and herds that rejoice the heart of the hus- 
bandman. The Old Court House saw the cabin of the 
pioneer give way to the modern home whose owner 
owned the soil upon which he bestowed his effort, the 
fullest realization of free government. The county's 
valuation of $2,932,857 in 1857 is now exceeded by the 
amount of a round half million in the second ward of the 
city of Lansing alone, while the county as a whole shows 
assessable values close to twenty-six millions and a total 
population of 43,607 as contrasted with the 15,000 of the 
earlier date. 

As the children of Israel under Joshua threw up a rude 
monument of unhewn stones beside the river Jordan as a 

162 



memorial of Divine favor, so this building may he in some 
measure our monument and memorial to the blessings 
of our own retreating past. Into it we can truly say there 
have been built the hardships and privations of former 
years; that it stands as the memorial of a rough road 
safely traveled, a monument in which every ward and 
township of a great county has its part, from which every 
individual may draw the stimulus of gratitude for what 
has been so nobly achieved and inspiration for still 
greater hope and effort; for if this edifice breathes the 
spirit of our past, it equally enjoins that we as individuals 
put that spirit into the future. A monument that does 
not inspire to future glory is wasted effort. The Pyra- 
mids, the Parthenon, the Colosseum, mark the past and 
height attained by the civilization of Egypt, Greece and 
Rome, but it is a. melancholy fact that they mark as well 
the depths to which they fell. The past of Ingham 
County teaches a lesson that can not be too often re- 
iterated, a story that can not be too often told, it is the 
great truth that the rewards and successes of life are the 
fruits of homely virtues; that temperance, industry and 
frugality make for collective as well as individual well- 
being; that the strength of counties and of states rests 
upon the integrity of their citizenship and the jealousy 
with which they resent encroachments upon their honored 
rights and institutions. 

If this beautiful building shall stand as a fitting monu- 
ment for the future, it will be because into that future 
we shall have as a countj^ and a people projected and 
transmitted the virtues born of industry and want, and 
not because upon the fruits thereof our children are 

163 



content to live in luxury and ease. The lesson of this 
occasion is individual as well as public in its application. 
To each and all there comes the injunction that to the 
altar of civic need we bring the best fruits of our wisdom 
and our conscience. It enjoins upon every individual 
that amid new and changing conditions, both social and 
industrial, we hold to those great basic principles that 
have brought us the glory of our past. 

My friends and fellow citizens, let us not seek the 
wealth that enervates, nor the power that temjits to 
wrong. Let us so live and learn that in the building of 
character, both individual and public, each achievement 
shall be only an incentive to still further effort; then will 
our monuments of the future be as have been those of 
the past, stepping stones from which the children of the 
future may look to the brighter fields that lie beyond. 

Self-government has its tremendous responsibilities as 
well as its compensations. If each generation shall 
manfully grapple and solve its problems, then the summit 
of human achievement lies only beyond the veil; if, in 
luxury and indolence, we fail in the task assigned, then 
no matter how grand the monument with which we mark 
our present, the coming centuries may tenant them with 
people to whom their true meaning and significance is as 
foreign as is the mighty temple of Ramesses to the humble 
Fellah that by chance may wander through its ruined 
vestibule. 



164 



The Need of the Commonwealth 

For a century and more, our Government has with- 
stood the assaults of foreign foes and triumphed over the 
internal dissentions of its own people, and today it lives 
on, a grand and we trust imperishable monument to the 
memory of its founders. Our material prosperity is and 
has alwaj'^s been the marvel of the people of every clime. 
As we stand in the effulgence of modern achievement, 
contemplating the realities of the present and the possi- 
])ilities of the future, we are lost in a reverj- of wonder 
and admiration from which we are hardly roused by the 
kindly admonition that present success is no assurance of 
future prosperity. So used have the world's favored and 
fortunate ones become to the complication of industries, 
the successful termination of prodigious enterprises, and 
the ease with which inventive genius has overcome the 
obstacles of nature, that great ethical, social and political 
problems are forgotten in the delirium of prosperity. 
Wisdom sounds the warning and bids her votaries make 
firm and abiding the foundations upon which that pros- 
perity rests, — none other than her manhood, stalwart 
in its honor and integrity. It is the incredulous who decry 
the w'arning, and with their eyes covered from the foe, 
ask,w^here and in what section is the danger. 

"Surely," say they, "it can not be in the lion-hearted 
North, for the nation's success was sealed and made 
possible by the blood of her heroes. Verdant hillsides, 
blossoming orchards and fields of billoAvy grain bespeak 
the prosperity of her husbandmen, while the clang of 

An early Fourth of July address. 

165 



anvils, the clatter of shuttles, the whirr of spindles and 
the screech of whistles, all sing the song of contented 
labor." It is not in the South, says the champion of that 
section, for there lies the fairest land of all our broad 
domain; in the words of one of Georgia's gifted sons, 
" There is centered all that can please or prosper human- 
kind; there, by night the cotton whitens beneath the 
stars, and by day the wheat locks the sunshine in its 
bearded sheaf. In the same field the clover steals the 
fragrance of the wind and the tobacco catches the quick 
aroma of the rain." She is awake from her lethargy to 
renew her youth at the fountains of her own prosperity, 
and nowhere throughout the land has Hamilcar sworn 
young Hannibal to hatred and vengeance but every- 
where to loyalty and love. The danger is not here, comes 
a voice from the West, protesting that the strange wild 
beauty of that country fills them with love for home and 
native land, and that their children breathe in the spirit 
of liberty with the mountain air. 

Thus do dangers to the individual and the nation lie 
hidden and unobserved. But the man who can pene- 
trate to the bedrock of principle, who can discern ten- 
dencies and accompanying incidents as well as the sub- 
stance from which they spring, comprehends the danger, 
sees the need that some fair proportion of the nation's 
energy be rallied from the race for gold to the thought 
of the individual, to the improvement of his temporal 
condition by the growth of his manhood, — the ennobling 
element of civilization and the constant and continual 
need of the commonwealth. In these days, when the 
mind is full of the strife of business, it is well to consider 

166 



the man, for bv him, and through his instrumentality, are 
national dangers to be surmounted, and the glory of the 

age to be achieved. 

Where in all the realm of thought or in the wonders of 
the material world is there a more worthy subject of con- 
sideration than the creator of thought himself; man, the 
highest order of creation,-the vegetable and the ammal 
world dving that he may live, and all subservient to his 
will The elements of nature may take his life, yet he is 
.reater than they in that he Imows wherefor he dies. 
All institutions, laws and inventions reflect the wonders 
of his mind and the mystery of his being. Fashioned m 
the image of his God, he has from that eventful day when 
the morning and the evening stars first sang together, 
been the one being of Divine favor, the light of history 
and the beautv of song. There is much in this world 
of beauty that allures us by its charms and furmshes food 
for contemplation and reflection along most pleasing 
hues There is a fascinating power in the beauty of a 
landscape, when from the brow of some grand old moun- 
tain the eve turns earthward to behold -the gorgeous 
panorama of nature with its picturesque commingling of 
hill vale and woodland, tinged with the gold of setting 
sun whose last rays streaming through the tree-tops give 
them the appearance of mighty bands of lace work, hung 
as if to drape the earth in mourning for departing day. 
Could we have explored the wealth of the mines of Ophir, 
from whence the great Solomon of Israel brought forth 
the gems of his mighty temple and the treasures of his 
kingdom, we would wiUingly have attested to the richness 
of nature's bountv; but what the one is for beauty and 



167 



the other was for worth, that and more is manhood. 

To be a man, is to be ordered by the everlasting prin- 
ciples of truth, to be actuated by the honor that sells for 
no price and compromises to no necessity. A dying 
father never left to an ambitious son a more Divine in- 
junction than did David of old, who with his last breath 
faltered, "Be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a 
man." And now, after the centuries have rolled away, 
the same injunction comes to us with renewed force and 
application, enjoining upon us that the questions which 
have been kept for our solution be handled by us in a 
way that becometh men. 

In these days of great activity, when it is more than 
suspected that corruption has intruded into high places, 
when the causes which lead to degeneracy and decay are 
thought to be found working at the foundations of gov- 
ernment and society, when society by reason of new 
conditions begins to feel its way along new and untried 
paths, problems are presented that try the souls of men, 
the solution of which demands a manhood conscious of 
its own worth, moved to action by the loyal devotion it 
bears to the cause of our common humanity — demands it 
for the two-fold reason that thereby mankind is bettered 
and his institutions saved. 

Todaj^ the nation and the world is perplexed and beset 
with the great problem of capital and labor, which thrives 
and grows as a fungus on the very prosperity we admire. 
In this nation, twenty million workmen, strong in arm 
and in the powers of intelligence, are demanding, with an 
earnestness that admits of no misunderstanding, that the 
wrongs of agelong standing be adjusted, and that to the 

168 



workman be awarded the fruits of honest toil. Capital 
cannot with safety to itself ignore its demands, for these 
demands come from men impelled by want of bread, — 
motive that will make of a man either a hero or a knave. 
Just at present, there may be quiet along the line; but 
mistake it not for the quiet that comes either from ad- 
justment or despair. It betokens the lull that precedes 
the fury of the storm. How will the trouble be adjusted? 
Not by a repetition of the scene of Chicago's Haymarket, 
nor by the use of the bludgeon, nor yet by the adoption 
of the numerous visionary schemes of the demagogue; 
but by the exemplification of the golden rule in business, 
by the growth of that philanthropic spirit of manhood 
from which comes charity and confidence and the cul- 
mination of perfect works. Through whatever troubles 
this and kindred ills may lead us, the ultimate adjustment 
will be had upon the broad and comprehensive platform 
of equality and fraternity. 

Great as the question is, and far-reaching in its con- 
sequences, yet it would be cause for congratulation if no 
other exceeded it in magnitude. But away to the south 
there lies a country that is all and more than has been 
claimed for it. Its mines and forests are stored with well- 
nigh inexhaustible treasures, and its quickening industries 
are prophetic of better things; yet she holds within her- 
self the greatest question of the hour, a problem that has 
become mighty in its proportions and national in its 
character. Upon her soil, by force of circumstances, are 
commingled two separate and distinct races, made equal 
by statute, but woefully unequal in intelligence and 
responsibility; the one justly 'proud of Anglo-Saxon 

169 



lineage, their ardor kindling at the mention of the great 
names of that greatest race, apt in the science of govern- 
ment, proud in the position of conscious superiority 
which it enjoys; the other weak, vacillating and de- 
pendent, without history, tradition or experience, and 
for centuries in servile bondage; and each repelled from 
the other by a prejudice as old as man. The adjustment 
of their difficulties is the great social problem of the hour; 
how and when it will be settled, is within the mind of the 
future. Whether in separate commonwealths the black 
man works out his own destiny and forms for himself 
a history, or reaches the race's full measure of attain- 
ments in the land to which he came a forced and un- 
willing subject, surely the one great element now need- 
ed is a manhood that can rise above the prejudice of race 
and condition, a manhood that can with patience and 
sympathy grasp the hand of a struggling and benighted 
people and guide their wavering footsteps in the paths of 
knowledge; this alone would ameliorate present con- 
ditions and would hasten the day when from the Lakes 
to the Gulf the hearts of men are bound together by the 
love they bear their common country. 

The dangers that beset us are not limited to these, 
but like the fears of darkness they multiply as we pro- 
ceed. Could the heroes of Concord, Lexington or Valley 
Forge awake from their long and peaceful sleep to behold 
the scenes of a modern election day, surely their cheeks 
would crimson as they should behold the fountains of the 
nation's life and honor polluted by the foul hand of 
bribery and corruption; should see the hopes and aspira- 
tions of the intelligent and patriotic thwarted, the needs 

170 



and necessities of good government defeated, bj' the herd 
to whom the dollar comes as a potion that makes a man 
forget his country, bj^ a rabble that Judas-like will for 
the paltry piece of silver betray their country's hopes and 
debase their nation's honor. This is not a party crime, 
confined to any State or section, but a poison that lik.e 
foul malaria has permeated the whole body politic. 
Surely here is a great danger, not only to the nation but 
to the individual man. It dwarfs his moral nature, im- 
pairs his self respect and exposes him to the just hatred 
and contempt of his fellowman. Legislation that aims 
toward the purity of the ballot is to be commended. A 
law that forever would disfranchise the man who should 
dare to sell his vote would be salutary; but not until the 
combined forces of good in this nation arise in the in- 
dependent richness of their own manhood and place the 
seal of their condemnation upon this practice can the 
dark stain be effaced from the name of the nation. 

These are some of the dangers to which we are sub- 
jected; and as if they were not sufficient to obstruct the 
path of progress, section is arrayed against section and 
faction against faction, all living for a common purpose 
and controlled by a common destiny, but each holding 
the other in perpetual distrust and estrangement, seem- 
ingly lest in the peace of the present the sorrow^s and the 
conflicts of the past should be forgotten. 

Thus while we are lulled into a feeling of security by 
the activity of the business world, while we boast of our 
marvelous achievements and partake of the bounties of 
a favored soil and a genial clime, the old ship of state 
moves on; nor will she falter or tiuii aside though the 

171 



dark cloud threatening rise more and more to human 
view, for on its front is hung the bow of promise. And 
assured with its presence, supported, maintained and 
defended by men whose manhood is the crowning glory 
of the age, she will outride the storm, saved from all 
dangers that surround her; but to do this she demands, 
and must receive, brave defenders, men and women 
filled with high purpose, and leaning for support upon 
their own integrity. 

There have been times when this great people have 
turned with anxious faces to the men who were to defend 
her honor in the council of the nations; there have been 
times when her bugle has sounded the call for men to go 
forth and decide her problems by an appeal to the ar- 
bitrament of arms; but never did she stand in greater 
need of men than she does today, not with sword and 
buckler to go forth in the smoke of battle, for the world is 
beginning to believe, with Whittier, that "Peace hath 
higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew." She 
has found such men in the past; they will not be found 
wanting in the future. There are those who believe that 
the places of past greatness can not he filled; that present 
dangers presage the certainty of destruction. But, for 
me, I would rather believe that there are no fixed stars in 
the firmament of mankind, that each does its duty for a 
season and then goes out. Thanks to the richness of 
human nature, the heavens are never wholly dark ; fitly 
has it been said, "When one great light fades, flickers 
and is extinguished, another appears in an unexpected 
quarter." While great men die, their places are some- 
how always filled, and while there may be counter marches 

172 



and retreats in the line of progress, yet the trend is 
always upward. These views may be Utopian, and 
national ruin and disaster not without the range of 
possibilities, still, to my gaze, there comes a brighter and a 
fairer vision, and vision though it be, still do I cherish it. 
I see a nation standing forth in the fullness of the coming 
man, freed from her turmoils and dissensions; a Republic 
compact and indissoluble in the bonds of love , the wounds 
of war forgotten, and peace reigning in the hearts of men. 
And as I look, the splendor brightens, as the gates of 
glory open and the light of Divine favor flashes down the 
way of progress, making clear the pathway over which 
all the nations of the earth must come that would cast 
their anchors in the haven of tranquility. 



173 



Getting Rich 

Mr. President, members of the graduating class, Ladies 
and Gentlemen: As you may know, my platform ex- 
periences have been confined to efforts incident to my 
profession, and to the discussion of questions of a political 
nature. In departing from a familiar path, there is 
always danger both in a literal and a figurative sense; 
danger both to limb and to reputation. In addressing 
my thought to subjects foreign to my more common 
expressions, I realize that I may be inviting the situation 
which once faced an old judge in the State Of Indiana. 

Judge David Quaintance was a jurist of the old school; 
his pre-eminence in his community was attested by a 
courtliness of bearing and superiority of mind that were 
both innate and gracious; but he was, withall, a man of 
positive opinions, and nowhere was he more positive 
and uncompromising than in his politics. In the cam- 
paigns of forty years the Judge had championed the 
principles of his party, the party of Jefferson and Jackson, 
in every county of the Hoosier State. In the excitement 
of the hustings he could meet fire with fire, and steel 
with steel; the weapons of satire, derision and denuncia- 
tion were ever ready at his hand, and were generally 
used even upon small provocation. Once in the early 
80's the Judge was the principal speaker at a Demo- 
cratic barbecue. The crowd had gathered from far 
and near, and numbered into the thousands. After the 
minor festivities were passed, the Judge mounted the 
platform and faced the sympathetic host. With voice 

Address at the Mason High School. 

174 



somewhat enfeebled with years, he began by saying, 
"Mr. Chairman, and fellow Democrats, I need not tell 
you that my heart rejoices at my being here, for as 3-011 
know, in the log cottage that once crowned yonder hill, 
I was born, and this afternoon beneath the pines that 
point heavenward from just beyond, are two mounds, 
that mark the last resting place of my dear old father 
and mother." As he halted for an instant, with a tear- 
drop glistening in his eye, from the confines of the crowd 
beyond the limits where his voice could carry came the 
shrill voice of a native, "That's right. Judge; give 'em 
fits." (The man did not say "fits," but the time and 
occasion do not permit me to come any nearer to the 
language employed). 

I trust that my strength of voice will protect me from 
any such misguided friend. 

I am to speak tonight upon a most important subject, 
namely, "Getting Rich." It must be an important 
subject, for since that far-off time when man first fashioned 
a war club, and woman wove for herself a mantle of 
bark and palm leaves, up to the time when men turn 
rivers of water into corporate stocks and corner the 
produce market, more thought has been expended on 
getting rich than upon any other thing in the world. 
Today there are ten men and women thinking about how 
to get rich, to one that is thinking about how to be good; 
ten men seeking the glitter of gold, to one that is seeking 
to bless mankind. The man v,'ho today could discover 
a chemically produced substitute for rubber, would have 
untold millions of material wealth at his command; the 
same man could give to the race a specific for tuberculosis, 

175 



and go in want for bread. Today a man may gain a 
palace, with an army of servants to run at his beck and 
call, by inventing some means for saving a cent a ton in 
the handling of ore from mine to furnace; he may die 
hungry, on a pallet of straw, if his labors have been for 
men's moral regeneration. Today a man may l^ecome 
rich beyond the dreams of avarice by cornering what, 
others have produced; or he may write the imperishable 
poems of a Goldsmith and remain as poor as was that 
wonderful genius. Now, for fear some multi-millionaire 
in the audience may begin to think that I have designs 
against the stability of his fortune, I wish to say, not- 
withstanding the financial returns of the professional 
prize-fighter are larger than the financial returns of the 
teacher, preacher, humanitarian and scholar, and not- 
withstanding the fact that there are young ladies who 
regard a man with an automobile with more favor than 
a man with only a high character, I still believe that the 
material development of these modern days is to be 
counted among the mightiest and most beneficent 
forces that have influenced the history of the race. 

The student of history has discovered that progress 
has been characterized by development along special 
lines, rather than by a simultaneous development along 
all the lines of human effort. The Nazarene led the world 
in a spiritual awakening whose force and power is still 
the most potent factor in human life, as it is likewise the 
most reasonable assurance of the life to come. Art and 
architecture have likewise in their time been the en- 
grossing subjects of human thought, and the handwork 
of the early Greeks, of Michael Angelo, of Raphael, and 

176 



of Sir Cvhristophor Wrenn are models not yet oxcolled 
by modern effort. Although the age of letters may be 
said to be still with us, no modern production can surpass 
the classics of the olden days, when the names of 
Shakespeare, Johnson, and the other writers of the great 
Elizabethan Age were carved at the top of the list of the 
heroes of literary attainment. It is likewise true, that 
in the science of government, aiid in the ideas of personal 
liberty, the world owes more to the years in which Wash- 
ington's soldiers starved at Valley Forge and Napoleon's 
cannon thundered on the battle fields of Europe, than to 
any other ten centuries in the history of the world. 

Great as was the progress of the world in the domain of 
pure religion, in art, in literature and in the ideas of 
liberty and government, it remained for this century to 
seek out the wonders of science, to develop the inventive 
faculties, and to stimulate activity among material 
things. So extensive has been this development, that 
the marvels of invention no longer startle us, and the 
prodigies of enterprise no longer surprise us. It is a 
development that has transformed, not only our activities, 
but our very thoughts and aspirations. It is visil^le in 
every field of human effort, from the farmer following 
his plow and tending his herds to the mighty steamships 
that buffet the wind and the waves of old ocean; it has 
given to the peasant opportunities and means of comfort 
and enjoyment beyond the limitations of the prince of 
two centuries ago. Our material progress has fostered 
universal education, and education has in turn promoted 
material development. In Michigan alone, the school- 
house doors are daily swinging open to an army of boys 

177 



and girls more than five hundred and fifty thousand 
strong; more than eighteen thousand more are in her 
higher institutions of learning. Within the memory of 
men still living, for it was in 1837, the first locomotive 
awoke the echoes in the Old Northwest, the third one to 
make its advent west of the Alleghany Mountains. The 
railway construction of the world has been done since 
that recent date. We travel across the leagues of ocean 
waste and desert sand to view the mighty pyramids of 
Egypt; and yet the ballast on American railroads is 
greater than one hundred and fifty-six great pyramids, 
while the ties used in their construction would build 
others to the number of twenty-four. From the rail- 
roads of the world built since the pioneers blazed a path- 
way through the forests of Michigan, trackage could be 
taken sufficient to build a double track to the moon, and 
more than one half the trackage could be taken from the 
roads of these United States. To this lunar railway we 
could furnish from our own systems 39,729 locomotives 
and 1,409,472 freight cars; equipment sufficient to main- 
tain a train of one locomotive and thirty-five cars on 
every twelve miles of the road; and if upon such a rail- 
road the first train should leave this place tonight and 
should speed at forty miles an hour without stops for 
fuel or water, it would be October 25, 1909, before the 
first train could complete the round trip and the last 
crew could call, "All aboard for the moon." In everj^ 
car of the forty thousand trains upon this lunar railway 
we could place a thousand dollars worth of merchandise 
and produce and then only touch the volume of our 
foreign exports. We could give to each train 5,000 

178 



bushels of corn, 2,500 bushels of wheat, 15,000 pounds 
of bacon, 7,000 pounds of hams and 4,000 pounds of 
pork, and not disturb the amount required for domestic 
consumption. 

As late as 1844, when William A. Burt was surveying 
in the vicinity of the present city of Negaunee, the great 
variation of the magnetic needle led to the discovery of 
the great Jackson iron mine. Other discoveries followed, 
and now this prime necessity of human progress is being 
torn from the mines of Michigan and Minnesota and 
sent down the Lakes in a mighty fleet of steamers, by the 
side of which the Spanish Armada would be as toys. 
From the mines of Michigan alone, is being taken an- 
nually, not far from twelve million tons of ore, wctfth 
more than twenty-six millions of dollars. We can better 
realize the immensity of this production if we stop to 
think that this amount of ore, if sixty per cent pure, 
would make more than one hundred thousand miles of 
steel rail weighing eighty pounds to the yard. 

In 1859 the Michigan Legislature offered a bounty of 
ten cents a bushel and freedom from taxation to promote 
the manufacture of salt. The spirit of the times touched 
the industry, and last year our output would have filled 
the barrels that could be placed on end between the city 
of Jackson and the Straits of Mackinac, while it was 
selling as a profit to the manufacturer at a price but little 
above the bounty of a half century ago. 

In 1794, about the time of the birth of the grand- 
fathers of some of the older persons here, Eli Whitney 
was inventing the cotton gin, which was to become one 
of the most important factors in the history of the nation. 

179 



At that time we were producing about 8,000 bales of 
225 pounds each. Now we are producing about twelve 
million bales annually of five hundred pounds each. 
That is sufficient to cover the county of Ingham with a 
quilt of compressed cotton one foot thick. At four 
yards of cotton cloth to the pound, that is sufficient raw 
cotton to cover 7,741 square miles with the product of 
the loom, or to wrap a bandage five hundred and forty- 
five times around the earth at the equator. 

Modern history tells the story of the sale of Manhattan 
Island for the sum of twenty-four dollars. Today, six 
square miles in the neighborhood of Central Park has a 
greater assessed valviation than all the real estate in the 
great commonwealth of Missouri. While the assessed 
valuation of the land of the city of New York exceeds the 
valuation of the entire State of Pemisylvania including 
improvements, such has been and still is the marvelous 
growth of this wonderful city, high authorities now 
estimate that by 1925 the daily water consumption of 
this city will be equal to a body of water one square mile 
in extent and five feet deep. 

We might recount, with profit, the colossal enterprises 
being prosecuted by the Government upon the Isthmus 
of Panama, where a mountain is being pierced for the 
marriage of the oceans; to the erection of the mighty 
dams in the West, some of them a hundred feet in thick- 
ness and from two hundred and fifty to three hundred 
feet in height, that are to transform canj^ons and valleys 
into vast inland seas whose stored waters are to quench 
the thirst of the desert and make the barren waste respond 
to the efforts of the husbandman. It is this spirit of 

180 



material progress that has made it possible for man to 
register his thoughts across the trackless seas with no 
connection save the mysterious forces of the universe; 
it is the same spirit that impels men, co-partnerships, 
and corporations to combine in still larger organizations 
to facilitate production and increase profits, to conceive 
and perfect the mighty enterprises that in magnitude and 
wonder surpass the imaginings of the kings who built 
the pyramids of Egypt, threw up the walls of Babylon 
or laid the foundations of ancient empires. 

My purpose tonight is to acknowledge, rather than 
deny, the reahty of the progress that has come through 
the material development of the centur\\ That the 
race vnW profit from this wonderful development, is 
certain; but, as we contemplate the wonders of our 
creation, there is need that we consider that which is 
greater and more exalted than the creations of man's 
hand, greater than the railroads which gird the earth, 
greater than the mines which pierce its foundations, 
greater than the ships which plow its seas,— man himself. 
View the illimitable universe from whatever standpoint 
we may, contrast man with it or with the vast and over- 
powering forces of nature, both visible and mysterious, 
still man remains the most wonderful subject of his own 
thought. Though of feeble strength, yet man harnesses 
the lightning to his use, while wind and wave become 
obedient to his will. The eye looks out to behold the 
mighty mountains, whose foundations were laid in the 
making of the world; to behold vast rolling seas, distilled 
from the mists of chaos, that lie in calm, or rage in storm: 
forests wide and primeval; hill, vale and mighty plain 

181 



gathered together in picturesque comminghng; such 
scenes startle the imagination, by their magnitude and 
stupendous grandeur, and yet from the innermost depths 
of the mountains, from the caverns of the sea, from field 
and forest, man appropriates the elements conducive to 
his life and pleasure. The crushing power of the winds, 
the tiniest rill, or the inanimate clod, may take the life 
of man; but even in death he may exult in his pre-emi- 
nence, for, with the old Greek poet, he can exclaim: "I 
have lived a day." Well might the Psalmist, in a burst 
of insjDired ecstasy exclaim, "When I consider the heavens, 
the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which 
thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful 
of him? For thou has made him a little lower than the 
angels, and hast crowned him with honor and glory. 
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of 
thy hand. Thou has put all things under his feet." 
Where shall we look for language more expressive of the 
dignity of man's place or the greatness of his capabilities? 
Truly, little more than the secret of life seems hid from 
his view. He traverses the waste of abysmal space, and 
calculates the magnitudes and motions of other worlds. 
He reads the earth's history from the rocks, and from a 
ray of light tells the composition of the stars; and to him, 
through heart and mind, comes that wondrous vision, — 
the immortality of the soul. If such be a correct char- 
acterization of man's place in the world, then is his chief 
glory to be found, not in his possessions, but in what is 
wrought in and through him; his true wealth and worth 
is measured, in the last analysis, not so much by what 
he has, as by what he is. It is in this connection that 

182 



our material development has wrought its harm. Men 
are glorifying stocks and bonds, lands and possessions, 
forgetful of the truth of the Hebrew proverb, which 
says, "There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath 
nothing; there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath 
great riches." 

There are men who insist that in the case where a man 
was allowed to vote because he answered the property 
qualification by being assessed for a jackass, that when 
the jack died the man was rightfully ])arre(l from his 
franchise because it was the jackass that had been voting. 

That great genius, Henry David Thoreau, was not so 
far wrong in his philosophy as one might at first think 
as one stormy night while snugly sheltered in his hut 
near Walden pond he mused of his wealthy neighbor 
who at that moment was facing the darkness and the 
storm piloting an ox team to a distant town, '' I am 
richer than he, for instead of his owning the oxen he is 
owned by them." The true mission of wealth, in its 
generally accepted sense, lies in increasing the powers 
and capabilities of men, not in dwarfing their powers 
from luring men to its worship. Great and mighty as 
have been and now are our material conquests, the 
richness of life has ever been, now is, and ever will be, in 
the heart and life, and not in the wallet. The acquisition 
of money is not a virtue of intrinsic merit, it evolves no 
joy within the heart, it brings to life none of the sweeter 
melodies of hope and faith, it was never the spark that 
fired a human life with a martyr's zeal, a hero's courage, 
or a Christian's love; but to the zeal, the courage and the 
love once born it may give a power a thousand fold. It 

183 



may become the handmaid of industry, the mentor of 
progress and the power of civihzation, or it may paralyze 
industry, stop progress with corruption, and in civihzation 
plant the germs of degeneracy and decay. 

Individuals have lived to bestow the blessings of 
mighty lives, though to material wealth unknown, while 
others have wasted in useless magnificence in the palaces 
of pomp and power. In the later years of the eighteenth 
century, two babes were born whose lives were destined 
to be mighty forces in the world, but along ways that 
were to have nothing in common. One, from the Isle 
of Corsica, went forth as a modern Caesar to be the 
master of Europe, to place the coronet of France and the 
iron crown of Charlemagne upon his brow, and his relatives 
upon the thrones of Holland, Spain, Naples and West- 
phalia ; to ■ wed the daughter of the proud emperor of 
Austria, and to plan for his son the succession of his 
glorious dynasty; to win success with the blood and tears 
of half of Europe, and then to lose it all, and be chained 
like fabled Prometheus to a barren rock in the lonely 
sea, to be the central figure in the mightiest tragedy of 
time. The other went from the humble mud cottage of a 
Scottish peasant, to give melody to the passions of the 
human heart, to know poverty and sorrow, but with the 
power to catch and make vocal the most glorious im- 
pulses that prompt to human action. A wounded hare, 
the field mouse and the daisy were the objects of his 
solicitude and love. Although he was destined to penury, 
and was never to pass beyond the restricted limits of a 
few Scotch counties, to him was given a knowledge of 
the universal heart; and as Lockhart has said, "Short 

184 



and beautiful as were his years, he has left behind him a 
volume in which there is inspiration for every fancy, and 
music for every mood; which lives, and will live in strength 
and vigor, to soothe the sorrow of how many a lover, to 
inflame the patriotism of how many a soldier, to fan the 
fires of how many a genius, to disperse the gloom of 
solitude, appease the agonies of pain, encourage virtue 
and show vice its ugliness, a volume in which centuries 
hence as now wherever a Scotchman may wander he will 
find the dearest consolation of his exile." 

Such were the lives of Napoleon Bonaparte and Robert 
Burns. Beneath the gilded dome of the "Invalides," in 
the city of Paris, is one of the most magnificent sepulchres 
that was ever erected for the ashes of the dead. From a 
circular balcony, the visitor looks upon a crypt, twenty 
feet deep and thirty-six in diameter. From the center 
of the mosaic pavement rises the tomb of the great 
Napoleon, a sarcophagus carved from a sixty-seven-ton 
block of porphyry brought hither from Finland. About 
the crypt are twelve colossal statues of Victor}^ with 
groups of battle flags intervening. On the pavement are 
inscril^ed the great victories of the dead, — Moscow, 
Rivoli, The Pyramids, Merengo and Austerlitz. The 
subdued sunlight falls through the stained glass windows 
of the roof, and invests the scene with ineffable solemnity ; 
but it is a solemnity that can not enlarge the influence of 
the silent tenant. View the character of Napoleon from 
whatever standpoint we may, either as the embodiment 
of ambition, cruel and insatiate, or as the iconaclastic 
spirit of reform, still the richness of his life was as poverty 

185 



to the influence of him who in hfe and in bitter want 

could sing, 

The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
The man's the gold for a' that. 

A few years ago a criminal warrant was sold in the city 
of London for the sum of $1,525. What was the secret 
of its value? Not its age; although its date went back to 
the reign of Charles II, thousands older can be had for a 
shilling. Not because it bore the signatures of thirteen 
Justices of the Peace, six Baronets and seven Esquires, 
for while they are the names of men who stood for the 
dignity of the state, still they have been forgotten these 
centuries. The secret of its value lay in the fact, that it 
had been issued for a Bedford tinker who had dared to 
think; because upon it John Bunyon was once brought 
before an English court that sent him to an English 
prison as an offender against the law; because it was the 
letters patent, as it were, of a man who was poor in money 
but rich in soul. Without this warrant, perchance this 
sturdy tinker would not have spent twelve years in an 
English prison and the world would have lost that wonder- 
ful allegory of the Pilgrim's Progress. Men were willing 
to bid a fortune for a document because the life of the 
man for whom it was issued had demonstrated that the 
power of kings, of wealth, of bolts and bars, was weaker 
than a wealth of soul. 

I hold that that man or woman is rich who has developed 
his or her talents to the full. The stars differ one from 
another in brilliancy and hue, the flowers of earth have 
each their color and perfume, but they do not differ in 
dignity or honor. If the school system of the day is 

186 



deficient in one thing more than another, it is in not 
teaching boys and girls the dignity of helpful service. 
Whether we have designed it or not, our schools have 
inculcated the idea that there is a special dignit}- and 
honor in intellectual attainments, and society emphasizes 
the pre-eminence of financial ability. We have pro- 
ceeded upon the assumption, that there is time for the 
]3oy and girl to learn the lessons of manual industry in 
the great world-school of experience, after fifteen or 
twenty years shall have been spent in the training of the 
intellect; we are now discovering that the two tj'pes of 
schooling should go hand in hand. We are learning 
more and more of the true richness of human life, more 
and more of the true dignity of all helpful service. We 
need also to learn that the mighty wealth of our modern 
development is but an incident to the total wealth of 
human life. The dollars for which men strive with 
feverish energj'^ are not within the reach of all; but there 
should be joy in the fact that the treasury of a rich spirit 
has open doors. Within this treasury are opportunities 
as varied as man's needs, and rewards equal to every 
effort, — rewards by the side of which the treasure of the 
miser is a Avorthless thing. To the men and women 
who have made for the true progress of humanity, there 
is need of a richer recompense than money. Life would 
be a sordid thing, if the debt due from the race to a 
Wilberforce, a Florence Nightingale, or a Frances Willard, 
were paid in coin. The richest lives of the world have 
been those of the men and women who have labored with 
the prompting spirit of useful service, — men and women 
who have gone to the tasks before them with large hearts 

187 



and mighty souls, responsive to a zeal that argues the 
noblest faith of man. Material wealth to them has been, 
as it must be to every one who succeeds in the larger 
sense, an incident rather than the aim of effort, a means 
to an end rather than an end to be gained by any means. 
We would revolt at the thought that the great Washington 
led the armies of freedom, that the great Jefferson gave 
to the cause of liberty the strength of his mighty mind, 
that others have braved the dangers of hospital and camp 
and sought to raise the fallen to manhood, with no higher 
incentive than a time check on a Saturday night. And 
yet the elements that have made for the success of the 
great characters of the world, are the same elements that 
are necessary to win the rewards in life's lesser affairs. 
In every community more than half of the people say, 
by their lives if not by their voices, "We would make the 
effort for great things if we had but the genius to achieve." 
Yet what is genius, other than the power to give ex- 
pression to the Divine impulse born with every human' 
soul? It may voice itself through the inspired lines of a 
Shakespeare, a Byron, or a Poe, the architectural con- 
ceptions of a Michael Angelo, or the wondrous art of a 
Raphael; but it speaks as truly through the best efforts 
of the man who stands behind the anvil, the bench, the 
counter and the plow. No man should despair because 
the best expression of his genius is to labor in life's common 
ways. The world has more work for plowmen than 
poets, more need of blacksmiths than orators, more 
employment for carpenters and masons than for artists 
and sculptors. 

Away with the retarding, dwarfing notion that dignity 

188 



attends only upon the labors of the isolated and ex- 
ceptional. A man may, and indeed should, bring to the 
tilling of the soil, to the handling of his engine throttle, 
to the shoving of plane and saw, as exalted notions as 
ever inspired men who have touched brush to canvass or 
chisel to marble. 

The tools with which men achieve success, are the same 
in every calling. A natural aptitude is unquestionably 
given to each human body, and in the language of another: 
"Blessed is he who has found his work." When a boy 
has found his work, he will find out that physical health, 
intellectual vigor, industry, and energy, make for ninety 
per cent of the world's successes. Shakespeare has put 
on the docks by the side of the sea of life a large portion 
of the people of the world, by saying: "There is a tide 
in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on 
to fortune," and there they sit, dreamy watchers for the 
flood of fortune's tide which never comes. 

Opportunity and environment may enlarge or restrict 
the ultimate achievements of men; but the fact is, that 
the issues of but few lives have been determined by 
isolated opportunities. The wealth or poverty of most 
lives depends more upon the use of the days, weeks, 
months and years that precede the day of opportunity. 
Young men and women, — build for opportunity, instead 
of waiting for it. Let no day pass without placing in 
the temple of your lives some stone fashioned for use and 
beauty; and when, through the slow processes of the 
years, you shall have piled one stone upon another, 
behold the wonder of a structure that in charm and 
beauty surpasses anything that was ever built in the 

189 



day of oi)portunity. Opportunities are not wanting. 
What is wanted, is men, who will do with their might 
what their hands find to do. The fountains from which 
the masters and heroes of the world have drunk deep, 
are still flowing. Infinity and immensity are still about 
us ; the heavens still glow with the orbs of night as on the 
day when the morning and the evening stars first sang 
together. The wonderful life about us still has all the 
mystery and charm it had when the Son of Man said, 
"Consider the lily of the field; it toils not, neither does 
it spin, yet verily I say unto you, that Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these." Opportunities 
for richness of life in the great field of science, in the 
great field of literature, in the great field of industry, in 
the great field of morals and reform, are pleading for 
men and women, and yet there are millions of men and 
women who find their highest pleasure in a game of 
penochle. In a material, constructive way, divert in 
this community the energy wasted and dissipated in the 
never-changing, never-ending, thumb-twirling of social 
conventionalities, apply it to useful purposes, find re- 
laxation and diversion in constructive things: not only 
will the lives of the men and women of the community 
be richer, but inside of ten years, your city will boast a 
hundred advantages and joys that are now unknown. 
Many a yoimg man sits idle and in poverty of soul be- 
cause he feels that he is debarred from the great world- 
stage of activity, unmindful of the fact that in his town- 
ship and village there are a thousand conditions calling 
for improvement, a thousand opportmiities to draw the 
dividends of real life. Many a young man and woman 

190 



feels that they are handicapped in life's efforts by the 
want of some imaginarj- quality of surpassing merit. 
Yet it is the knowledge of common things, the inbred 
tendency to practice the homely virtues, that makes for 
the richest life. To have the soiled hands of industry, 
is better than to wear a paste diamond; for the young 
man who has learned the lesson of labor has a competency 
already assured. Known honesty and integrity have 
secured more positions for young men and women than 
the recommendations of rich relatives. Good habits are 
a better financial asset for any young man than an un- 
earned legacy; for without the first, he is sure to lose the 
latter. I have seen more than one young man choose 
the cigarette and unconsciously surrender positions that 
in years to come meant affluence and honor. The young 
woman who takes to the marriage altar a goodly knowledge 
of domestic duties, is dowered with greater wealth than 
the sister who can boast of nothing more than a gorgeous 
trousseau. Poverty in domestic science has been the 
prime cause of discord in many a home, and much trouble 
has started in the kitchen that has found its ending in 
the divorce courts. 

The man who cares more for his credit than for his 
clothes, who is more jealous of his honesty than of his 
appearance, who can work as well in the absence as under 
the eye of the boss, who thinks of his work instead of his 
wages, who hates poverty of soul more than he does 
poverty of purse, — is in danger of neither. 

Young men and women, if you aspire to the greater 
riches of life, put into your hearts and souls the scuitiment 
which animated tlu> gr(>at Phillips Brooks, when he said: 

191 



"Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men. 
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for 
powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your 
work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. 
Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness 
of life which has come to you by the grace of God." 



192 



The Good and the Bad 

Who made the heart, 'tis He alone 

Decidedly can try us, 
He knows each chord, — its various tone, 

Each spring — its various bias: 
Then at the balance let's be mute, 

We never can adjust it; 
What's done we partly can compute. 

But know not what's resisted. 

So, half sadly, but truly, sang Scotland's illustrious 
bard. Surely, no life was ever more full of contradictions 
than was the life of Robert Burns. His heart was atune 
with the Diviner melody, yet he walked at times in life's 
devious ways and drank from the cup that yields nothing 
but the memory of bitterness. His inner life was in 
joyous harmony with lofty ideals; his outer life some- 
times touched the bounds of sorrow and despair. And 
for this, all true men love him, for in their hearts they 
know that in heights and depths the experiences of 
Robert Burns are the experiences of humanity. 

W^ho are the good? Alas! who are the bad? The 
human heart is a strange and inexplicable thing, even 
unto itself. Rare, indeed, is the man whose mental poise 
is such, that in his estimate of himself he can say honestly, 
"This I do, and that I abstain from doing, because of 
inherent love of the good which is within me; this I do, 
and that I abstain from doing, because of the thousand 
influences that are rooted in the centuries gone." Like- 
wise, rare is the man in whose heart there dwells the 
fullness even of human charit3\ Daily through the 

193 



troubled scenes of human life there strides the Pharisee, 
in princely pride, gathering his regal robe of self-right- 
eousness about him, while with mingled scorn and affected 
pit}^ he inclines his head in mock dignit}^ to look upon 
some brother whom the world has branded with the 
badge scarlet, and as the multitude gazes, he passes by 
on the other side, lest the hem of spotless garments be 
touched by a poor soul torn by passions and temptations 
and experiences that the Pharisee in his narrowness has 
never known. 0, God of the weak and fallen, thou 
readest their hearts, thou knowest their trials, thou 
knowest their weaknesses ! What unpitying merciless em- 
bodiments of thy form Divine have gained and are still 
gaining the plaudits of the world for success and good- 
ness; while tonight, how many a loving heart, at times 
touched by feelings almost Divine, whose nobler passions 
are fanned to flame l)y a breath such as might come from 
the beating of an angel's wing, by the same world are 
clothed in the rags of shame, because, forsooth. Fate has 
led their footsteps in the rough ways of life, given ex- 
periences reserved as trials for the few, acquainted them 
with temptations which, but to know, was to fall. A 
relative thing is temptation. It is never such, in fact, 
unless it awakens a responsive echo within the soul; thus 
it is always to the weak, and not to the strong. Poor 
souls, and how many such there are! If kindly spirits 
shed their influence and linger near the haunts of men, 
surely thej^ are watching near to these. How little 
credit, in the pride of success and goodness, do we give 
to the favorable environment with which we have been 
hedged about. Fate leads our feet in rosy ways, and 

194 



because we smell the perfume, we claim honor to our- 
selves. We stand in the forefront of opportunity; it 
bears down upon us like an onrushing flood; ofttimes 
we struggle to be free from it and arc borne along by its 
tide against, the will until in goodly season we find that 
we have drifted to a rich and fertile shore; and when our 
feet press the sunny strand with wealth and the bounties 
of nature within our grasp, forgetful of the way and 
mindful only of the possession, we take all the credit to 
ourselves, dispossess the Almighty, and proclaim our 
greatness throughout the land. 

The goodness of success may, and does, come to some as 
a gracious benediction; while to others it comes in its 
fullness as the reward either of patient seeking or of 
unremitting toil. Who has not seen in vision, if not in 
reality, a stately temple, grand in its conception, mag- 
nificent in its execution, and embellished with every 
beauty known to the cumiing hand of art. Within its 
sacred precincts we have seen the throng, — the throng 
eimobled by birth, blessed with culture, and proud in 
wealth and position, standing in mute and solemn pres- 
ence, while a mighty organ rolled forth in thunder tones 
its deep diapason, filling trancept and nave with its 
wonderous melody, softened and made glorious as in 
pleasing harmony there floats to them the music of the 
human voice, breathing the gentle intonations of a grand 
Te Deum. Listen to the impassioned pleadings for 
purer life, and the tragic condemnation of sinful things; 
eloquence that charms, and aftrights. Who has not felt, 
to some degree, these inspirations that lift to higher 
planes. How they soften the hardness of life! Yet how 

195 



often we see this mighty throng pass out and away, 
proud of conscious power, cold and unsympathetic, their 
lives conforming to the most rigid rules of worldly statutes, 
yet each the possessor of a heart that is a stranger and 
unknown to the wondrous passions of its possibility. 
The world says, these are the good. 

The eyes need not be closed to see another vision, for 
daily we meet the reality in the highways of life. It 
crouches in the very shadows of the temple from which 
comes the music sacred and Divine. Some child of the 
night is resting there, — fatherless, motherless, homeless, 
alone. That cruel decree of Fate which visits the sin 
of the parent upon the innocence of the child, has per- 
chance closed the door of hope in the face of this wander- 
ing waif. She may have been as pure as the drifting 
snow which wreathes about her; within her heart may 
have burned the vestal fires of human emotion ; inspiration 
may have come at times for grand and noble things; and 
the heart in its tenderness may - have yearned for the 
fullness of its possibilities. Many a time does such an one 
succumb to the temptations in life's devious ways and 
arise with renewed hope only to struggle on until life is 
embittered and prospect saddened. Inexplicable is the 
course such a life must run, because the sweet and tender 
impulses become lost in an unknown way. How different 
such a life, could its course have been run in sunny happy 
ways, and the heart have been refreshed by the perfume 
of life's roses, instead of torn by their thorns. Surely, 
the day will come when some just judge will say, "The 
spirit was willing, the flesh only was weak; though the 
life had blame, the heart was pure." 
~ 196 



The Lodge of Sorrow 

Exalted Ruler, brothers, ladies and gentlemen: — Our 
order, like many others of like character, has seen fit to 
set apart a day dedicated to the absent brother. It is a 
beautiful custom, appropriate to everj^ organization built 
upon the great and beneficent principle of fraternity and 
brotherly love. 

How changed the meaning of each recurring Lodge of 
Sorrow. Year by year we call the names of the absent 
ones, and the silence that follows the repeated call yearly 
strikes some heart with a new and strange significance; 
for yearly our tablet is engraved with the name of some 
brother, whose life to someone, like the accents of a sweet 
song, still vibrates in the memor^^ 

The world has ever been lavish with its tributes and 
memorials for those who have gone down in the full glow 
of the white light of worldly fame. From Rameses to 
the fortune-favored of our own day, as the notable have 
passed from the scenes of life, the w^orld has made haste 
to write large the story of their achievements and to 
make enduring the records of their fame; but history has 
shown that a people may erect triumphal arches and 
inscribe colossal monuments to deified heroes and departed 
kings without their own souls being awake to the wonder- 
ful truths of fraternity and brotherly love; without the 
consciousness that the same Divine spark animates the 
peasant in the cottage and the prince upon his throne, 
and that in the last analysis the honors of life are to 

Address before the Lansing Lodge, B. P. O. E. 

197 



those who, in whatever station, do well with the talents 
given into their keeping. 

It is a matter of congratulation, that a day is set apart 
and is growing in favor, wherein the people gather to- 
gether and do honor, not to the memory of one man 
because of his attainments, but to the memory of all men 
according to their virtues. 

This day helps on the full realization of the fact that in 
life's many calls to duty, honors should be for the manner, 
rather than the kind, of doing. The world has been slow 
in realizing that "man's inhumanity" which "has made 
countless thousands mourn" has arisen in large degree 
because honors have been bestowed according to the kind 
rather than the manner of the doing. But a gladder 
and a better day is dawning on the world, which is coming 
more and more to understand that they who drag the 
rock from the mountain's side and they who in the 
studio fashion it in the similitude and beauty of the 
human form, are all working to a common purpose; that 
Kfe calls for more blacksmiths than poets; for more 
carpenters than artists; and that the army of men who 
sit wdth hand to the throttle of the rushing engines, are 
as important a part of the great transportation systems 
as are the less numerous general managers. Humanity 
will have achieved a grand advance, when they who toil 
honestly in the lowly and hard ways of life can stand 
unabashed in the presence of wealth and power, and 
when they who are chosen to the exceptional service are 
always conscious of the far-reaching claims of fraternity 
and brotherly love. When this day comes, men will 
have worked into their lives no new and hitherto un- 

198 



known strength and power, but each will have become 
conscious of the beneficence, the strength, the power, of 
the virtues which are the charm of common life. 

Today we commemorate the humble virtues of men 
whose fate it was to labor in the multitudinous affairs of 
life, each in his place doing the work given into his care; 
of men who brought love into their homes, and loyalty 
and integrity into their citizenship. 

From this it must appear, that the purpose of this day 
is not that empty honors may be paid to those who have 
gone beyond, but rather that from their lives we may 
draw lessons helpful to us who still remain, lessons that 
the children of men have ever needed to learn and of 
w^hich they have never had more need than now. 

Modern civilization has not only given new direction 
to, and mightily intensified, the activities of men, but has 
introduced elements that are changing many a man's 
ideas of the great problems of life and human destiny. 

Today, we are grappling with the mighty problems of 
empire; we are busy with the larger questions of finance; 
w^e are active in the mysteries of invention and discovery. 
Every scheme that promises an increase of wealth and its 
attendant power commands the attention of a multitude 
which is limited as to size onl}' by the capacity of the 
most distant to see and hear. It is perhaps well that it 
is so, for we are busy at this time with material develop- 
ment. Humanity seems never to have experienced a 
symmetrical development at one and the same time 
along all the lines of human advancement. The rule has 
seemingly been an advance along individual lines to the 
exclusion of two or more. The dawn of the Christian 

199 



era marks the beginning of an advance in spiritual de- 
velopment that still leavens society with a mighty strength 
and power. Art and letters entranced the world while 
Michael Angelo wrought and Shakespeare sang. The 
cause of human liberty and democracy engrossed the 
thoughts of men while Napoleon's cannon roared and 
Washington's famished troops shivered at Valley Forge. 
Commercialism, in its most intensive form, has been 
reserved as the program of these later days. It is but 
stating the general thought to say, that no other line of 
development along which humanity has passed has been 
more fraught with dangers to those high ideals which 
have ever been the beacon lights of progress, than have 
those which today lurk about us in our present-day 
activities. 

The spiritual development of the race received its 
greatest force from the life and character of the lowly 
Nazarene, whose earthly career touched the heights of 
pure and lofty devotion. His simple life gave to evil a 
darker tinge, and to virtue a more radiant glow. Through 
the lowering clouds of doubt and error he opened the 
bright vistas of hope and promise. Every precept of 
Christianity was the antithesis oi material selfishness 
and lust of power. 

Art and letters were likewise the messages of unselfish- 
ness and love. Whether in the carven stone, the glowing 
canvass, or the printed page, they have ever been attempts 
to catch and to make intelligible some glorious inspiration 
that the sculptor, the artist, or the author would give to 
his fellow. The genius of a Byron, or a Burns, was to 
the enriching of humanity, not only in their own day, but 

200 



for the untokl centuries; of the future. Even the shock 
and tumult of a mihtant democracy was as the bugle 
note of deliverance and victory to all hut those who 
fattened through injustice and oppression. To millions, 
the tramp of soldiery and the boom of cannon meant 
hope and o])portunity, the breaking of a brighter and a 
better day. 

In spirituality, in art, in letters, in liberty, the gain 
and advance of every man has been the gain and advance 
of every other man. Can the same be said with equal 
truth of the development which has for its basis the 
conversion of the powers and resources of nature? Do 
we not see a vast difference in the moving inspiration of 
the men who went forth to tell the story of the IVIan of 
Galilee, and the men who today combine to control the 
means of production or transportation? Do we not 
catch the difference between the inspiration which moved 
men to associate to declare the great doctrine that all 
men are created free and equal, and that which may 
prompt men to associate to exploit the mineral lands of 
Michigan or the oil fields of Texas? We must all recog- 
nize, that great and desirable as is our present-day 
progress, it has in it elements unknown to the progress 
of other times and other lines. Today we see a tense 
and nervous struggle, the prompting of an ambition 
which, if not controlled by a broad and comprehensive 
charity and ])y the higher sentiments of justice and 
integrity, l^ecomes cruel and insatiate; an ambition that 
benumbs the conscience and dwarfs the growth of every 
constructive faculty. 

My friends, it is these considerations that mak(> for 

201 



the opportuneness and value of the lessons of this day. 
Every thinking man admits, there is need as never 
before that we as a race, and especially as a nation, take 
frequent reckoning of course and currents, and that we 
keep well in mind the great problems of life and destiny. 
To us as a fraternal organization, what day is more 
suited to this purpose than this our annual day of 
Memorial? As we scan the roster of our departed, and 
each imlocks the secret chambers of his heart and looks 
again upon the impressions made by the life gone out, 
what are the thoughts and sentiments that seek for 
expression? Is it that such a friend was a merchant 
prince, with that magic in his touch which turned the 
dust to yellow gold and we miss him because the earth 
has seen none so great as he since then? Do we say of 
another, that we loved him because of a gift of genius 
whereby he brought ten thousand men to do his bidding; 
or do we say yet of a tliird, that we are unconsoled and 
mourn his loss because in life he had gathered to himself 
every luxury that might be the desire of a sensual taste? 
No; we say none of these things. Genius may claim 
our admiration, but it is virtue that receives our love. 
If as we call the names of the absent ones, memory 
lingers to bestow a kindly tribute, it is because he upon 
whose memory the tribute is bestowed measured to the 
full stature of a man; because in life, whatever may have 
been his station, he wTOught with a noble purpose and 
justly earned the application of Wordsworth's lines. 
That best portion of a good man's life, — 
His little, nameless, unremembered acts 
Of kindness and of love. 
202 



If thus overtopping man's grandest achievements in 
the fields of common effort we find the common virtues 
of life, and count each life a failure unless its material 
successes are adorned with the qualities of charity, 
fidelity, justice and honor, how important it is that these 
qualities find places of utility and strength in the building 
of our own lives and characters. It is important that we 
gain the knowledge that these things be built into the 
structure. Men can not live lives of selfishness and in- 
justice and in their latter days claim merit because they 
glsLZO them over with the tinsel of better things. The 
gold which there is in a life, to give value to it, must have 
been refined within the crucible of a man's own soul; it 
must permeate the character, and show in thought and 
deed, not be reserved to gild a crown to be carried on his 
bier. Time does not suffice for a man to live two kinds 
of existence, one in which he may gather the fruits of 
meanness, and another in which he may reap the rewards 
of justness. Byron^^has justly said, that man is as a 
pendulum between a smile and tear. It is true, that with 
an eternity upon^either hand, for one brief moment it is 
given to man to fashion the life which is to be his earthly 
credit for the untold aeons to come. 

Today the question comes. What is life's highest 
purpose? Has it claims upon me above and beyond the 
satisfaction of my individual needs and the needs of those 
who by law or blood are dependent upon me? From the 
tombs of the dead, from every avenue of worthy ex- 
perience, yea from 3'our very presence here, comes the 
answer, "It has." Our lives are to be lived, not only for 
ourselves, ]:)ut for our follows. 

203 



There is such a thing as the joy of service. Men find 
it when they so exercise and develop their abihties, their 
powers, and their talents, that they become, not only of 
profit and honor to themselves, but to all who come 
within the circle of their influence. 

My brothers! this is no Eutopian fancy. From Moses 
to our own day, these qualities have been the guiding 
principles of every life that has been at once both good 
and great. They are principles that in no way limit or 
prescribe the talents of men. They have given lustre 
to the life of Franklin, of Lincoln, of every man who as a 
national character has gained a place in the affection of 
the people. 

A life may be so lived as to be like unto the rose, which 
suffers no diminution because of the fragrance which it 
exhales. My brothers! If today memory recalls the 
ties that bound departed brothers to us, still stronger 
than the ties of kinship and fraternity are the ties of their 
congenial spirits, the ties that proceed from the knowledge 
that the lives gone out were lives ruled by honor and 
integrity, sweetened and tempered by love and by the 
real joy of living; and because as a tribute to each we can 
say, 

Green be the turf above thee, 

Friend of my better days! 

None knew thee but to love thee, 

Nor named thee but to praise. 



204 



Judge Henry P. Henderson 

My good friends, I wish this afternoon that I could 
find words to express the sentiment that is common to 
every heart here; there are times when the lieart feels 
what words cannot tell, and this is such a time. 

I can hardly remember when I did not know Henry P. 
Henderson, but I knew him scarcely at all in the field in 
which he wrought so long and achieved so much; there 
are others here who will speak of Judge Henderson as the 
lawyer, members of the bar who either with him or 
against him came to know and to appreciate the strength 
and vigor of his powers. 

Almost a quarter of a century ago I left my country 
home to become a student in the office of Huntington and 
Henderson of this city. Soon Judge Henderson was 
appointed to the federal. bench in Utah, while I continued 
with Judge Huntington and later with my good friend 
George F. Day. First Judge Huntington was taken, 
then we followed the mortal remains of Brother Day and 
saw them lowered to their last resting place upon yonder 
hillside. Today, I stand beside the casket of Judge 
Henderson, the last of the three men who prompted my 
youthful aspirations, my heart filled with emotion that 
I can find no language to express. 

I knew Henry P. Henderson as the young man knows 
the older, warm-hearted, -wise counselor and friend. It 
is seldom that a man's talents and virtues remain a force- 
ful factor in a community a quarter of a century after 

Remarks made at the funeral of .Judge Henry P. Henderson who died in- 
Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 3. 1909, and whose funeral was held from the 
Presbyterian Church in M;uson on June 13, 1900. 

205 



he has left its busy scenes, and yet such can be said in 
truth of our departed friend, and it will continue true for 
long years to come. Upon the school board of this school 
district, as an ofl&cer in our city government, in county, 
state and federal positions as well as in the distinguished 
service he rendered in his chosen profession, Henry P. 
Henderson proved himself a great man, perhaps the 
greatest that has gone from among us. There w s real 
love and affection for Judge Henderson here in Mason, 
as the presence of this company bears witness. We are 
not thinking today of the things which brought him 
position and worldly fame. The love that this com- 
munity bore him was not the cold admiration accorded 
to achievement, but the warm, pulsating affection that 
sets toward the man who has the qualities that make 
him a loyal friend. If I were to speak of the one char- 
acteristic of this good man that ever impressed me as the 
most prominent in his nature, the characteristic which in 
my association with him was the most frequently brought 
to my attention, it would be that trait which is ever 
associated with true greatness, the trait of modesty. 

Judge Henderson brought great abilities to the dis- 
charge of his numerous duties, yet it should be said of 
him that few men approached their tasks with less show 
or ostentation. His modesty was of that innate and 
unconscious character which is ever the accompaniment 
of a great soul. Many a time we know" that in the field 
of political effort Judge Henderson refused to claim his 
own; many a time he retired from the field and allowed 
others of less ability but of more vanity to push to places 
of trust and power. I am stating only what others 

206 



know Avhen 1 t^ay that but for this trait in his character 
Judge Henderson might once have gained a seat upon the 
supreme bench of Michigan as he might once have gained 
a seat in the Senate of the United States. Whatever 
Judge Henderson gained in the poUtical world he gained 
through the force of his superb mental abilities antl not 
through his demands or entreaties at the throne of political 
power. 

I have said, and many a tear-dimmed eye bears testi- 
mony, that the people of Mason loved Judge Henderson. 
There is compensation in the knowledge that he in turn 
loved the people of Mason. His life could almost be 
said to have been the life of Ingham County. The last 
time we rode together from Lansing to this city, as we 
passed the old Benton house he turned to me and said, 
" As a boy I have driven over this road when that was the 
last house between Lansing and Mason." So in a measure 
he grew u]) with Ingham County, and was drawn to its 
people by a thousand ties and associations, ties that 
grow in strength with every true-hearted man. Although 
he left us long years ago and measured to the full stature 
of his duties in a distant State, he never forgot the friends 
of his youthful days nor the scenes of his early triumphs, 
and hither he returned as often as numerous cares per- 
mitted. He returned to us because his heart's desire 
was here. Here, to him, the fields were the greenest, 
here the flowers bloomed the brightest, here the birds 
sang the sweetest. He was loyal to the State of his 
adoption, but it is still to his honor to say that he loved 
Micliigan best, and that among the i)roud cities which 
our State can boast, of all her broad acres and teeming 

207 



thousands, the plain people of the little city of Mason 
were first in his affections. 

He went out from among us to extend his influence 
and make for himself a greater name, a name which is in 
a measure reflected back upon us. There is a melancholy 
pleasure in the fact that even in death he has returned 
to be among the scenes and associations of his fondest 
years. Could he break the everlasting silence, I am sure 
he would say, " It is well." He would smile, to know that 
because of appreciation of the service he rendered and the 
love he bore his fellow creatures, his grave would be a 
sacred spot to those who linger in Time's shadowy vale. 

This tribute is altogether weak and inexpressive of 
the sentiments and feelings which prompt my words, 
but it is all that I can bring. In times like this, the mute 
eloquence of silence, and the most glowing panegyric, are 
as one; ineffectual to tell the deeper passions of the heart. 



208 



NoRRis Branch 

Since that far off day when the morning and the evening 
star, first sang together, man has stood with bowed head 
and sad heart in the presence of the mystery of death. 
Neither the meditations of the philosopher, the songs of 
the poet, nor the revelations of the priest and prophet, 
have been able to give charm to this great unknown and 
unknowable fact; but there is something in the heart of 
man, born of a noble faith, that bids the children of earth 
to enter the valley ot the shadow and know that all is 
well; that bids us know that life, like matter, is indes- 
tructible ; and that the beneficent Power that holds worlds 
to their course, paints the rainbow upon the cloud and 
gives perfume to the rose, is not forgetful of His creatures. 
I am glad to be here to speak a word of tribute to my 
friend. He had defects and he had virtues. It is not 
my mission to obscure the one nor to magnify the other, 
for there is strength and there is weakness everywhere. 
In nature, floods devastate the valleys of peace and 
plenty, pestilence puts a land in mourning, and sun and 
cloud dot the same landscape. 

I loved our brother for the exuberance of his nature. 
He saw life through the eyes of youth. I loved him for 
the loyalty of his friendship. In this I knew him best. 
He was more than friendly, he was generous and kind. 
He was not the friend of prosperity alone, but his was 
the friendship that could stand stress and storm. His 
generosity was not of the quality that spent its force in 
well-wishing for his fellow, he was ever willing to give 

Remarks made at the funeral service for a friend in Mason. 

209 



and to do. If want and suffering came in his way, he 
did not pass them by upon the other side; for he loved 
his fellowman, and this busy and sometimes seemingly 
heartless world can boast no nobler virtue. 

Father, mother, wife, children, — we have lost a 
friend. We shall miss him, but there will be joy 
in the remembrance of his virtues. The day is dark, 
but let us fill our hearts with the inspiration of Long- 
fellow's beautiful lines, and feel as we say, 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; 
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; 
Thy fate is the common fate of all, 
Into each life some rain must fall, 
Some days must be dark and dreary. 

But a little while ago, summer clothed the hills and 
vales with a mantle of emerald, harvests filled the valleys 
and crowned the uplands; there was song in the copse, 
and a breath of perfume was borne upon the gale. Now 
all is seeming dead beneath a -sanding sheet of snow; but 
blossoming fields, the nodding flowers, and singing birds, 
will come again, for they do not sleep the sleep that 
knows no waking. So methinks, it will be with him who 
has gone before. 

Let us believe, that in the serious moments of his life, 
with a better knowledge of his strength and weakness, 
with a better knowledge of his hopes and purposes than 
we can know, his heart and soul could say in the noble 
lines of Tennyson, 



210 



Sunset and evenins? star, 

And one clear call for me! 
And may there be no moaning of the bar, 

When I put out to sea. 

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 

Too full for sound and foam, 
When that which drew from out the boundless deep 

Turns again home. 

Twilight and evening bell, 

And after that the dark! 
And may there be no sadness of farewell, 

When I embark. 

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place 

The flood may bear me far, 
I hope to see mj^ Pilot face to face 

Wlien I have crost the bar. 



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